Parenthood
by honeymasquerade
Summary: Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens have been married for nearly two years, but they never felt truly complete as a family. They are sure that if they were to have a baby it would fill the gap in their lives. But how would they even have one? And how would they raise the baby? I suck at summaries but basically Hamilton and Laurens on the journey to become fathers and raise a baby.
1. Chapter 1

It was something that they had dreamt of for a long time, something they had discussed for years. It was first brought up around the end of the first year they had been dating, something talked about at Christmas and at their wedding. This was the thing that would make the Hamilton-Laurens family complete: a baby. Alexander and John longed for a child of their own. They wanted to spoil them and love them and watch them grow. They didn't care about the gender or where the baby was from, they just wanted one.

Whenever they were out and happened to see a baby, John would go over, cooing and ask so many questions. Alexander was sometimes rather embarrassed by his actions, for example, when he nearly sat with a different family at Wendy's so he could talk about their baby. Alex remembered having to bag up their lunch and practically drag John out the door. As embarrassing as John could be with infants, Alexander still found it somewhat adorable.

Having a child would be hard, however. Alexander was always busy with his job writing for the New York Times, and John, a recent college graduate, was searching for his first teaching job. They were both so busy, and so young, only in their twenties and living in a small apartment. It was hard to imagine throwing a baby into the mix. On top of that, there was the difficult process of adoption. Being approved as a gay couple would be hard, and then the waiting and wondering of the actual adoption process would be incredibly long. It was all very stressful and John would sometimes catch himself tearing up at the thought of this. He found himself tearing up now as he searched online for teaching positions. John quickly wiped them away before Alex saw, he didn't want to concern him.

He looked at Alexander, sitting on the opposite side of the table. His dark brown hair was in a bun on the top of his head and his glass were sitting on the brim of his nose. He was staring intently at his laptop as his fingers danced over the keyboard, typing out an article he had to present to his editor later that week. John smiled softly and reached over to push up his glasses gently. Alex kissed the palm of his hand as he continued to type, causing John to smile more. Alexander was incredibly sweet, John felt so lucky to be able to say that he was his husband. They were very lovey dovey with each other, cuddling all the time, giving each other pet names, leaving little gifts and surprises for each other around the house. John liked to leave Alex's favorite candies around the house, or a new book or flowers. Alexander usually slipped a love note into John's bag whenever he went out. Sometimes it was a long, sweet, mushy letter professing his undying love for the freckled man, and sometimes it just said "I like your butt". Either way it made John's heart flutter and color come to his cheeks. There was one time where John had come home from school to find a large stuffed turtle sitting on his side of the bed with a little note from Alexander beside it. John absolutely loved turtles and Alexander was well aware of this fact. John had cuddled the turtle until Alex returned home from work that night, then John set the turtle aside and brought his husband to the bedroom to thank him properly.

John looked at the clock on the kitchen wall and saw that it was half an hour to noon. "Ah, babe, I have to get going." he said to Alex. "I'm supposed to meet up with Lafayette and Hercules at noon."

"You're leaving me?" Alex looked up at him with a pout. John chuckled.

"You won't be alone, Nugget is here." he said, gesturing to the orange tabby sleeping on the couch. They had found him a few months back, a tiny little kitten, eating a chicken nugget in the parking lot of McDonald's. That's why they named him Nugget. He was a sweet cat, though he would quickly steal food right off your fork if you weren't paying attention. Poor Alexander lost so much food to the sneaky Nugget. Alexander continued to pout and John pecked his lips. "I'll only be gone for a few hours, I promise."

"Fine." Alexander huffed. "Be good, don't fight anyone." John chuckled as if this were a joke, but it most certainly wasn't. John had quite the temper, if anyone so much as looked at him or Alex funny he would be ready to brawl. There were many times that he would come home, a little beat up from fighting in the alley behind some bar. Alexander would sit him down and lecture him for what seemed like hours about how terrible it was that he fought. What was he, some thug? But afterwards, he would sit with him and gently clean him up and give him something warm to drink.

"We aren't going to a bar or anything, Alex. Laf wants to go shopping and you know him, he'll need both Herc and I to help carry all of his bags." That got Alexander to crack a smile. Lafayette was ridiculous when it came to shopping. Alex remembered the first time he had gone with the Frenchman and how shocked he had been by the amount of shopping bags he had by the end of the trip. Lafayette had a lot of money and worked for a fashion company so his shopping trips were a sight to behold. It was rather overwhelming for poor Alexander, but John and Hercules had been Lafayette's college roommates for a few years and knew all about it, which is why he usually brought them along.

"Like you wouldn't fight someone at the mall." Alex grumbled a bit, though there was a smile on his face. John chuckled and gave him a kiss goodbye.

"Don't worry, if the mall security gets me Lafayette will bail me out, that is if Hercules doesn't try to break me out first." He gave a teasing smile. "I'll see you later, babe."

"Laurens, you seem quite distracted today." Lafayette said as John absentmindedly browsed the racks of some high end clothing store. "Is something troubling you?" John looked up at the other man, much taller than himself. He shook his head and shrugged.

"Nothing, just tired." John said, but as soon as Lafayette gave him the look that let Laurens know the Frenchman knew he was lying, he came clean. "Okay, honestly I'm just really stressed. I'm trying so hard to find a job but so many schools have cut the arts that nobody needs an art teacher. I mean I could teach African American studies for older kids since I did double major, but being an art teacher for children is like my dream!" He looked so stressed.

"I've looked online, in newspapers, and I've even gone into schools! But everyone turns me away. Sometimes I can't tell if it's because of people defunding the arts or if they think I'm too young or if it's because of my race…" He looked down. "It's just so hard. And Alexander is so successful at the Times… and I can't even find a job teaching kids to draw…" He could feel frustrated tears welling up in his eyes and he blinked rapidly to make them go away.

"Oh, Laurens." Lafayette pulled him into a tight hug. "It's hard to get off your feet at first, but nobody thinks you are inferior because of it. You picked a tough subject to teach, but that shows your passion for it and that is something we all admire." He smiled reassuringly. "My friend, I have known you for years and I know you are a fighter, in more ways than one. You will find your dream job, you simply must fight for it!" Lafayette pulled squeezed his best friend's shoulders. John grinned softly, knowing Lafayette was right as usual. It may be hard now, but it would all work out in the end. Lafayette had told him this so many times before, especially in school when John was really struggling. He could remember when Lafayette was still very new to America and could not yet speak English very well. "Do the punching to get it." Lafayette used to say, his French accent very strong. It made John smile to remember it.

"Thanks, man." Laurens said. "Now go try those things on so we can get out of here. It smells like bad cologne." Lafayette rolled his eyes and went to the fitting rooms.

It ended up taking nearly another hour to get out of the store. Lafayette insisted on everyone trying things one and asked both his friends' opinions on his choices along with store employees and other customers. While people would normally be a little hesitant to do such things for complete strangers, Lafayette's deep voice and beautiful accent lured them in. Lafayette knew it would work and Hercules rolled his eyes, having seen him pull the accent card so many times before.

By the time they had gotten out of the store, Laurens and Hercules were starving. Herc whined about it rather loudly so John suggested they go get something from the food court. Lafayette looked appalled by the idea and insisted they head over to the mall's lovely sushi restaurant. "I don't have enough money for fancy sushi right now." John said. While the Laurens family was very wealthy, Henry had cut off his son and basically disowned him when he had announced his engagement to Alexander. Henry was very against homosexuality and he would not associate himself with John if he was marrying another man. His sister Mary, however, kept in touch with him and would send him money every month to help him out which John was extremely grateful for. He missed his sister dearly, but she was living in their home in South Carolina still which meant it was very hard to ever actually see her in person.

"I'll pay for you today, John." Lafayette told him. "You can pay me back later." he winked at him. John grumbled.

"This isn't freshman year, Laf. I'm married and I'm not giving you a-"

"Oh, mon cher, I was only joking!" Lafayette laughed. "You can just carry my bags as a thank you." John looked at the massive amount of bags in Lafayette's hands and for a moment actually thought about just giving his friend a blowjob.

"Hey, guys." Hercules started. "If you give a blowjob to a friend does that make it a bro-job?" John slowly looked at the smiling Hercules and Lafayette was getting ready to call mall security so John wouldn't kill their friend.

After they had eaten their large lunch, their bellies full of delicious sushi, they sat at their table in the restaurant and talked. John pulled his hair back into a ponytail as Mulligan talked about the date he was planning to take his girlfriend Angelica on. He was animatedly describing the movie they would see and how he would take her mini golfing and then to dinner.

"Are you sure mini golfing is a good idea? You two are so competitive." John said.

"Mm not to mention you cried the last time you lost." Lafayette teased. Hercules frowned at them.

"You guys suck." He said.

"Only if you ask nicely, my friend." Lafayette responded.

"Okay, John sucks and Lafayette, you are just nasty." They all laughed and paid their bill. John grabbed Lafayette's heavy shopping bags and the group of friends left the restaurant. It was about three o'clock now and Lafayette still had more places he wanted to stop before they could leave the mall. As they were walking to the next store, John stopped at the FYE they were about to pass. "I'll be right back!" He told the others as he went inside. He knew he had a gift card for the store in his wallet and he wanted to get something for his hardworking husband. The southerner looked around the store and spotted exactly what he knew his Alexander would like. He grabbed the Battlestar Galactica DVD off the shelf and used his gift card to purchase it. Alexander loved the series and though it wasn't exactly John's cup of tea, he enjoyed cuddling up on their couch and watching it together. The childish light in Alex's eyes as he watched was just too good to pass up. John shuffled the bags he already held and managed to grab onto the FYE bag. He thanked the employee and rejoined his friends.

"A gift for Alexander?" Lafayette questioned when he came back out. John grinned and nodded.

"You spoil him, dude." Mulligan said. "Why won't you spoil me? Aren't I handsome enough to spoil? How can you resist me?" Hercules leaned against John and dramatically put his hand on his forehead. In their group, Hercules was the funny man, the class clown, the pun master.

"Okay one, you're straight, Herc. Two, you just aren't my type." John teased right back. Hercules feigned offense and John lightly elbowed him. Hercules laughed and Lafayette smiled in amusement as they continued to walk.

After another three hours, Lafayette had finished shopping. John's hands were red from carrying so many bags and Hercules was complaining about the bags he was helping Laf with. "Why do you have to buy so many damn clothes? Who needs this much?"

"I need choices, Hercules." was Lafayette's response. He was carrying a couple bags full of shoes. It was honestly impressive how much Lafayette could buy during one shopping trip. "And anyway, these are not all mine. There are a few things for you two as well. A little thank you for helping me out today." he smiled. Hercules blinked and John smiled and shook his head. Typical Lafayette, a generous shopaholic. He loved to shower his friends with presents, loved to let them know how much he appreciated them, especially these two. When Lafayette had first started attending college, he was nervous and barely understood anything. His first roommate didn't bother to try to talk to him or help him around campus. Lafayette had found America very frightening and was struggling with his classes since he still wasn't fluent in English. That's when he met John Laurens and Hercules Mulligan. They were both freshman like he was and were in his African American history class. The two friends had taken notice of the frustrated frenchman and had offered to help him with notes. They didn't know how to speak French, but with a little help from google translate and some books, they were able to help Lafayette out and he was starting to get better with English. They all became roommates a couple of months after and remained friends ever since. Lafayette treasured them, they were both so incredibly important to him and this was how he liked to show his gratitude.

"Let's go call a taxi and I'll show you which bags are yours." He said with a warm grin. The friends walked back through the mall and went outside. Lafayette called for a taxi and they loaded in, maneuvering the incredible number of bags around so they could all fit.

"Dios mio…" John mumbled when they were all situated. Lafayette gave the driver John's address so they could bring him home first, which John was rather grateful for. He was ready to just relax on the couch with Alexander and watch a movie. He smiled at the thought of holding the smaller man close to him. Lafayette waved his hand to snap him out of his thoughts.

"Johnny, do you want the items I bought you or not?" He asked with a grin. John blinked and collected his thoughts.

"You really didn't have to get me anything." John said. "It was no big d-" Lafayette raised a hand to stop him.

"I am thankful so I need to show my thanks. Now, these two bags are yours. Try them on when you get home, I'm positive I picked your correct size, but I saved all the receipts just incase." Lafayette smiled, giving him two large shopping bags.

"Thank you, Laf." John said. Even though he found the Frenchman to be ridiculous sometimes, he did appreciate all the things he did for his friends. John put the FYE bag inside one of the shopping bags and leaned back for the rest of the ride home.

Alexander pounced on John as soon as he walked through the door, causing John to drop the shopping bags. John looked down at the shorter man. Alexander was only about five foot and seven inches while John was around six foot. He smiled at his husband and wrapped his arms around him. "Did you miss me, Alex?"

"You were gone too long." Hamilton grumbled, burying his face in John's chest, causing the younger man to laugh. "Don't laugh I'm mad at you."

"I think I know a way to make it up to you, chiquito." John whispered into his ear. Alexander shuddered, loved it when his love spoke Spanish to him. He looked up at him, meeting John's seductive gaze.

"What did you have in mind…?" He asked softly. John smirked and leaned in close to his ear again.

"I bought you a little present while I was out tonight, mi sol, something I know you love so much…" He kissed Alexander's ear. "Battlestar Galactica." Alexander blinked and looked up at him.

"John… You're the best." He stood on his toes to give him a deep kiss before pulling away to get the DVD player ready. John chuckled at how excited he was.

They spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch, watching Battlestar, eating pizza, and sharing kisses… An absolutely perfect night.


	2. Chapter 2

John stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at his reflection and trying to decide if he should put his hair into a ponytail or leave it down. He had an interview with a middle school today for the position of the school's art teacher. He had talked to the principal over the phone a week ago and had scheduled an interview for today. The principal. Mrs. Carson, sounded like a very nice woman, but John was still so nervous. He decided to put his hair up, it looked better with the suit he was wearing, and started to mess with his tie. He struggled to make it look decent and cursed in annoyance. Alexander heard him and came into the bathroom. He said nothing as he went over and fixed John's tie and straightened his suit jacket.

"You're going to do great, baby, they'll love you." Alex said, leaning up to kiss him softly. John breathed in and let it out slowly, trying to calm himself. Alexander smiled at him in approval. "Not to mention you look really hot in that suit. So if you don't think the interview is going well, use those good looks of yours to woo them."

"Alexander, I'm not going to flirt with Mrs. Carson. She's married and probably seventy, judging by her voice on the phone." John said, giving Alexander a look. He just giggled and held his hand, squeezing it tight.

"Then just smile and be yourself. You have your portfolio? A copy of your resume?" Alex asked him. "John nodded, gesturing to the portfolio case right by the sink. "Good, you're all ready then. Go out there and wow them, John."

The middle school was located in an upper class neighborhood, filled with big houses and people driving fancy cars. John looked around in wonder as he got off of the bus, portfolio in hand. He lived in the city so he didn't get to see houses like these very much anymore. John must have stood out because some students and parents were staring at him in confusion. He closed his mouth, which hadn't realized was hanging open, and went inside the school. John stopped at the front office to talk to the secretary.

"Excuse me, I'm here for an interview with Mrs. Carson." he said to her. The secretary was an older woman, her gray hair tied into a tight bun, glasses perched on the end of her nose. She looked him up and down, lips pursed.

"And, uh, who are you?" she asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm John Laurens. I spoke with Mrs. Carson over the phone about coming in for an interview today." John told her. The secretary looked at her clipboard, skimming through different papers for a few minutes and occasionally glancing back up at John. He was starting to feel nervous again. Why was this taking so long? He was on the schedule to come in, wasn't he? Why did she keep looking at him, was his hair coming out of the ponytail? Maybe he shouldn't have worn it up?

"Ah, there you are. John Laurens interviewing for the position of our art teacher." The secretary's voice broke through John's worried thoughts. "Mrs. Carson is in her office right now, you can go in and speak with her. That door right across the hall." she pointed to the principal's office and then went back to her work before John could say thank you. He gripped his portfolio and went across the hall to knock on the door. He waited until he heard the principal's voice to enter.

"Good morning, Mrs. Carson." John said with a pleasant smile. "I'm John Laurens, it's a pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand to her. Mrs. Carson just stared at him for a moment before shaking his hand with a smile.

"Mr. Laurens, you're much… taller than I was expected." she laughed, John thought she sounded a little nervous. "Please sit, make yourself comfortable. Do you mind if I look through your portfolio?" John sat in the chair on the other side of the desk, across from Mrs. Carson. He hand her his portfolio with a smile and watched proudly as she looked through his drawings. There were landscape drawings and drawings of animals. He had shaded pictures and fully colored pictures and creative crafts he could teach students. John's portrait drawings were simply breathtaking. He had many drawings of his friends and many more of Alexander.

"Oh my, these are stunning. Who are these pictures of?" the principal asked, holding up one of Alexander. John smiled at the drawing more than at her.

"That one is of my husband Alexander." he said proudly.

"Your… Your husband?"

"We've been happily married for two years now." John told her. "He's one of my favorite subjects to draw." Mrs. Carson just stared at the drawing for a minute, silent. John cleared his throat which seemed to bring the principal back from wherever her mind had wandered.

"So… You are an art major." She said, blinking a few times.

"Yes I did, ma'am. I double majored in art and African American studies."

"Well we won't be needing any African studies here, just art." Her tone of voice had changed ever so slightly. John furrowed his brows.

"Actually it's African Ameri-" he was starting to correct her but she cut him off.

"Well, Mr. Laurens, while your art is certainly impressive, I don't believe you will… fit in well here."

"What…?" John's heart began to race.

"Well it's just that you… as a homosexual… the students may not understand it. And the parents may not like having someone like you teaching their children." Mrs. Carson didn't meet his eyes as she spoke. John clenched his fist in his lap, anger beginning to well up inside of him. "You understand, don't you? We just don't want you to feel… uncomfortable as a homosexual of color here…"

"Yes, ma'am, I understand perfectly." John said, trying not to let his rage seep into his words. He understood exactly what she was trying to say. "I apologize for wasting your time today." John gathered his art and put it back into his portfolio before standing up.

"You may have better luck finding a job on the south side of town." Mrs. Carson said as he turned to face the door. John paused for a moment, ready to say something terribly rude, but he instead thanked her for the tip and left the school. He caught a glimpse of the secretary in the front office looking at him with a smirk. John wanted to scream at them, wanted to tell them that they had no right to stereotype him. Sure he was gay, sure he was the only person of color in that school, but neither of those things should have affected his chances of getting a job. Frustrated tears sprung to his eyes as he waited at the bus stop. He blinked rapidly and willed the bus to come faster, wanting to be home with Alexander.

Alexander didn't look up from his laptop when John walked through the door. "Welcome home, John. How did the interview go?" When John didn't reply, Alexander furrowed his brows and looked up, seeing the tears running down John's cheeks. "What happened?" Alex stood and hurried over to him, reaching up and holding John's face in his hands.

"As a gay man of color I don't fit in at that school. They wouldn't want me to be uncomfortable." John said, repeating what the principal told him. Alex looked at him in shock.

"They actually said that to you?" he asked, becoming angrier when John nodded. "Well they are going to receive a strongly worded letter about this. Maybe I should write an article about this. I'll call them out, they won't get away with this!" John shook his head at him and dropped his portfolio next to the couch.

"It's not worth it, Alex. If we call them out they may spread word about me to other schools, then I'll never have a job and I'll never help make money for us. How would we ever have a baby then?" He looked into his husband's warm brown eyes. Alex sighed and gave him a loving look, taking his hand and leading him over to the couch. He sat down and John laid down with his head on Alexander's lap and his legs hanging off the of the side. Alexander took the ponytail out of John's hair ran his fingers through the soft curls. Alex spoke softly to him in Spanish, telling him how much he loved him and how amazing he was, just wanting John to feel better. Alexander was still planning on sending a letter to the principle about what she had said, he just wouldn't tell John.

"I'm going to make us something for dinner, alright?" Alex looked down at him. "You should go take a shower." John looked up at him.

"Don't start dinner yet… Come in the shower with me…" He gave Alexander puppy dog eyes, knowing there was no way he could argue. Alex chuckled and helped his husband up, holding his hand and leading him to the bathroom.

After they had showered, John went to sit on the balcony and Alexander went to start dinner. As he cooked, he took out his cellphone to make a call to a friend. The phone rang twice before a woman answered. "Hey, Peggy, it's Alexander." he greeted when she picked up.

"Alex! How are you?" Peggy asked excitedly. Alexander chuckled a bit.

"It's going pretty well, John had an interview with a school today. No, he didn't get it. They said he wouldn't 'fit in well'. I know, how ridiculous is that? Anyway, I have a favor to ask you…" He said. "I remember you saying before that the art teacher at your school is going on maternity leave and you need a long term substitute… I was wondering if you could get John an interview. Really? Thank you so much, Peggy, I really appreciate it! Uh huh, yeah we'll be at the halloween party this year. Okay, Peggy, talk to you later." Alexander ended the call and put his phone away, a pleased smile on his face. He called for John to come into the kitchen. John, much more relaxed now but still rather upset, walked into the kitchen. He came up behind Alexander and put his chin on his shoulder.

"Is dinner ready?" the taller man asked.

"Almost, but I have something to tell you." Alex smiled. "I know it's not the age group you were hoping to teach, but the art teacher at the school Peggy teaches at is going on maternity leave and they need someone to take over while she's gone. Peggy is going to set up an interview for you with the principal there." John blinked.

"You… You got me an interview?" John turned Alexander so he could look at him. The man just smiled.

"Kind of. Peggy will call you when everything is set up." Alex told him. "It's a kindergarten class, but I think you-" he was cut off by John pressing their lips together. John didn't need to say the words out loud, Alex knew just how thankful he was. Whenever John was feeling down and ready to give up, Alex came swooping in the make things better if not right, and John was always incredibly thankful for that. He sometimes wondered what he would be doing if he didn't have Alexander there to help him and encourage him. Actually, he didn't really want to think about that. John pulled away from Alexander.

"You are incredible, Querido." He said softly.

"And you deserve this, mi amor." Alexander replied. "Now get some plates out, dinner will be done in a few minutes.

After dinner that night, when John had fallen asleep, Alexander slipped out of bed and to his desk in his study. He pulled out paper and a pen and began to write what ended up being a twelve page letter to the school that had turned John away for who he was. Alex fit it into an envelope and prepared it to be sent in the morning.

Two days later, Alex was sitting on the floor, playing with Nugget and waiting for John to come home. He had his interview at the elementary school that day and Alexander was anxious to know how it went. He knew how much it meant for John to get a job, the poor man always felt a little inferior to others. His husband was a writer for the New York Times, and what was he doing? Absolutely nothing. It made John feel terrible, and Alexander hoped that this interview would go well so he would get that boost of confidence he definitely needed. It was another forty minutes before the door opened, startling Nugget and making him bolt out of the room. Alex looked over to find John standing there with a bouquet of flowers and a smile on his face. Alexander stood and hurried to him, wrapping him in a tight hug. "You got the job?"

"I got the job!" John exclaimed, joy in his voice. He gave Alexander the flowers. "These are for you, for helping make this happen. I also got some for Peggy but I already gave them to her. I can't thank you both enough." Alexander put a hand on his cheek, rubbing gently with his thumb.

"You don't have to thank us, John." he said softly. "When do you start?"

"Next Monday, I have to decide what craft I'll be doing with the kids. And what should I wear? Should I have the children call me Mr. John or Mr. Laurens? What if the kids don't like me?" John looked at him with a now worried expression. Alexander couldn't help but laugh.

"You're going to be fine. Just dress business casual for now and then see what other teachers do. You'll do great with the kids, they'll love you." Alexander paused and bit his lip. "And speaking of children… I think that… Now that you are employed, we can maybe discuss having a baby sometime in the future."

John stared at him in silence for a minute. "Really? Are you serious?" Alex nodded.

"I think it's getting about time to make our family complete. Come on, let's sit down."


	3. Chapter 3

Alexander and John sat on the couch, angling their bodies so they could face each other while they talked. John felt nervous butterflies in his stomach, though he had no idea why. It wasn't as though he was about to get in trouble and be lectured, they were just talking about having a baby. A baby… The one thing John wanted more than anything… Alex of course wanted a child as well, but John dreamt about becoming a father since he was a young child. He loved to take his sisters' babydolls and play with them, pretending to feed them and change them and bathe them. His mother had thought it was the sweetest thing to see, but his father hated it. When John's mother passed away, Henry would punish John whenever he tried to play with a babydoll or any other "girly" toy. But when they were alone, his sister Mary would let him play with any of her toys. John always went for the babydoll, he loved it, and now he was sitting here with his husband, discussing the possibility of bringing an actual baby into their lives.

They sat in silence for what felt like hours but was probably not more than a minute. John scanned Alexander's beautiful dark eyes for any hint as to how this conversation would turn out, but he could not find a thing. John swallowed nervously as Alex stared at him.

"Relax, John." Alex said to him. "I'm just thinking about my strong husband helping move things out of my study. It's a pretty sexy image."

"Why are you imagining that?" John raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Well, we have to have a nursery if we want to have a baby." Alexander smiled at him while John's eyes widened a bit. "What? You knew that's what we were going to be talking about!"

"I-I know that, but I'm just… Surprised. You just came right out and said we have to have a nursery for a baby, like you've already made up your mind. I just thought it would have taken more convincing to get you to agree to this." John confessed to him, looking away in embarrassment Alexander chuckled and put his hand on John's knee.

"I've had my mind made up since our wedding night." Alex told him. "I kept thinking that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my days with. This was the man I wanted to raise a child with. I just had to think about where we were in life and when the right time would be to have a child. We weren't getting a lot of money from just my job, enough to support us but not us and a baby. Your sister would send us money, but it still wouldn't be enough. We needed to save for a crib and highchair. Clothes, diapers, formula. College! What we needed was for you to get a job, and now you have one!"

"So what do we do?" John asked.

"We start saving. We split our paychecks and whatever your sister sends into different funds. Some will be put towards furniture for the nursery, some for food and formula, some for clothes and diapers, some for college, and then the rest is for us."

"And once we have the baby one of us will have to quit our job." John said, biting his lip. "That will be me. Once we have our baby, I'll quit my job."

"John, you just got it and you've been dreaming about this for years. I can't let you do that, I'll-"

"No." John said firmly. "You have dreamt of having your job at the Times much longer than my wanting to be a teacher. You are not quitting, you deserve that job and you cannot throw it away. I'll be okay, I promise. I will teach while I can, I'll leave when the baby is here, and when they are old enough, I'll try to teach again." John gave a confident smile and Alex sighed.

"If that's how you still feel when the time comes, then that's how we'll do this." Alexander leaned over and gave him a kiss. John kissed him back deeply and moved closer, causing Alex to chuckle against his lips. "Feeling playful? Be patient, we still have more to talk about." John whined, wanting to pin alex down and take him, but he obeyed.

"What else do we need to talk about?" John asked, sounding incredibly needy, which Alexander loved. He absolutely loved making John wait for sex to the point where he was all fidgety and whining for Alex to touch him. "We can keep talking later, come on, let's see if we can just make a baby~" he wiggled his eyebrows and pushed Alexander down on the couch.

"John Hamilton-Laurens, I said wait." Alexander said with authority. "If you cannot be patient then you will not be allowed to touch an inch of my body. If you are good, Papi will reward you." John whined a little more but moved back so Alexander could sit up. Alex stroked his cheek lovingly.

"What else do you need to talk about, Papi?" John asked in a soft voice. Alexander smiled at him.

"Do you think we should adopt or try to find a surrogate?" he asked. "I personally think we should look into adoption."

"I think adoption is our best route. It would be so difficult to find a surrogate, and there are so many kids out there that need a family." John said with a nod.

"Alright, I'll start looking into different adoption agencies tomorrow then." Alex said, smiling at John. "That's it for tonight, thank you for being patient. You can go ahead now." John immediately pinned Alexander down on the couch and kissed him deeply. Alex wrapped his arms around him and kissed back, opening his mouth so John could slip his tongue inside. John start grinding his hips against his husband's, letting him feel how much he wanted this. One of the things that Alex noticed very quickly in their relationship and thought was adorable was that John was very needy and desperate when it came to sex. When he was turned on, and honestly the dumbest things could turn him on, he would whine and cling onto Alex until he got what he wanted. Of course, if Alex said no he would back off and take care of himself, but that was not very often. Tonight he was able to ravage Alexander, explore every inch of his body and make him scream his name. Once they were both spent, they cuddled on the couch in a sweaty heap, listening to each other's heavy breathing, feeling safe and warm and loved.

"Alright, everyone, we need to say a big hello to our new friend! He's going to teach you art and do so many fun things!" Peggy Schuyler said to her classroom full of kindergarteners. "Can everyone say 'Hello, Mr. Laurens'?"

"Hello Mr. Laurens!" The little students chanted to their new art teacher. John stood at the front of the classroom beside Peggy, a big smile on his face. This was not the age group he had been planning on teaching, but they were so cute.

"Hello everyone! I'm so excited to meet you!" he said cheerfully

"Okay, kids. I'm leaving for a little bit. Listen to Mr. Laurens and have fun!" Peggy waved to her class and gave John a smile before leaving. John looked back at the kindergarteners, feeling rather nervous now.

"Your hair is poofy!" one little girl shouted out suddenly. "I like it!"

"Well, maybe you can put poofy hair on the jack-o-lanterns we are making today." John smiled as the kids made excited noises. Since it was October, he had many different halloween crafts planned for the class. He opened up the box of art supplies he had and took out some construction paper, all various colors. John gave every student an orange piece and put a stock of colors papers on each table. "Everyone take out a pencil, we are going to start by drawing a pumpkin!" John showed the children how to draw a pumpkin and then helped them cut their drawings out. Once that was done, they got to use their crayons and the colored construction paper to decorate their pumpkins. John made one himself and walked around the classroom to help any student that needed it. The little who liked his hair, Ava, asked him to help her make an afro for her pumpkin. John chuckled softly and helped her cut one out of brown construction paper. Once their pumpkins were done, John had them line up and go into the hallway. They hung their jack-o-lanterns on the wall in a row. "There, now we have Miss Schuyler's classroom pumpkin patch!" John smiled at the art projects and the kids admired their work. John praised the children and brought them back to the classroom.

"In our next class we will color haunted houses." John told them. Some of the little boys made ghost noises when he said this, causing John to laugh. Peggy walked in the classroom then and smiled at her students.

"Did we all have fun with Mr. Laurens?" she asked them. The children let out a chorus of affirmations. "Can we say goodbye to Mr. Laurens?"

"Goodbye, Mr. Laurens!" the kids waved at him. John waved back at them, gathered his things, and left. He felt so warm and happy. Teaching such young children was not what he thought he wanted when he got his teaching degree, but he had loved this. The children were adorable and so sweet, he couldn't wait to come back. His art class was only two days a week, but he planned on trying to make it the children's favorite class.

He wanted to run home and tell Alexander all about it, but he would be at work until the evening. John took out his phone and called the next best person he could think of.

"Hello, this is Mary Laurens." his sister's voice made him smile.

"Hey, Mary, it's John." He greeted.

"Johnny! I miss you so much! What have you been up to?"

"Oh my god, I just finished my first art class at Bakerwood Elementary up here. I'm teaching a class of eighteen kindergarteners." He went into a long story about how he got the job, how he had been turned away by his first interview because he was gay, and then just started talking about various things with his sister as he walked home. He had just walked in the door when he remembered something rather important that he should tell her. "Oh! Alexander doesn't really want us to say anything until we are sure everything is going to work out, but I have some big news and I really want to share it with you. You can't tell anyone, okay? Okay. Alex and I are starting to look at adoption agencies, we want to adopt a baby." John had to quickly pull the phone away from his ear as his sister screamed.

"John, holy shit, are you serious?!" She demanded.

"Yes, I'm completely serious!" he laughed in response.

"You're going to be a daddy! You're going to have a baby! I'm going to be an aunt!" Though John couldn't see her, he knew that his sister was bouncing up and down excitedly.

"It's not official yet. We're just going to start looking at adoption agencies and start applying. We don't know if we are going to be accepted or how long it may take to actually adopt a baby." John told her. "We're hoping that all will go well, but we want to keep this on the down low for right now. And please don't let it slip to dad right now… I don't want him giving us a call to lecture us about having a baby. You know he will. He doesn't think gay couples should have children, he's against everything that I do, he's just…" John took a deep breathe to calm himself down before he got angry. "When are you coming up here to visit, Mary?"

"I'll be up there for Thanksgiving, big brother." she said. "I miss you so much."

"I miss you too." John said a little sadly. "You'll get to meet all my friends."

"All two of them, right?" Mary teased.

"Actually, only one. I'm married to Alexander so he doesn't count." He joked right back, causing his younger sister to laugh.

"I have to go, John. I'll talk to you later, Keep me updated on the baby." They said their goodbyes and hung up. John smiled softly, feeling great after talking to Mary and even more excited for Alexander to get home later that night so they could look at adoption agencies.

Alexander came home at seven o'clock that evening. John had dinner waiting on the table for him and was sitting there, drawing in his sketchpad, not noticing his husband walk in. Alexander came up behind him and pressed a kiss to the back of his head. "What are you drawing, tater tot?" Alex asked as he watched John sketch.

"I've been designing the nursery, trying to figure out how we should do it." John said, not looking up as he continued to move the pencil in beautiful strokes and motions. Alexander loved to watch him draw, it was a magical thing to see. John would seem to be in a trance like state, only responding to the outside world every so often until he had finished his creation. Now he was silent again, drawing a rocking chair in the corner of the sketched room. Just like when Alex was writing, it was hard to pull John out of his drawing trance. Alexander pressed kisses to the back of his neck.

"Come on, my love. You can continue later, let's eat before the dinner you made gets cold." Alexander said softly against his skin. John shuddered lightly and put his pencil and sketchpad away. Alexander sat across from him and they ate their dinner, sharing stories about their days, smiling and laughing. When they had finished and cleaned up, it was time to do some research. Alexander got out his laptop and John moved to sit beside him while he opened up various documents. They sat for hours and researched and discussed various adoption agencies around New York, making a list of the ones they thought were the best and reading through their credentials. They would occasionally strike one off the list, but they still had a good amount of open and closed adoption agencies. All of this felt like a dream to John. Were they really doing this? Were they really going to adopt a baby? It just didn't seem real. John leaned his head on the top of Alexander's own head and watched him quickly read through everything on another agency's website.

Once they had finalized the list of agencies they wanted to try, they began calling and making appointments to meet with social workers from each agency. They would have four that coming weekend, three the following, and four more on the Wednesday after that. When everything was planned out, John gave Alexander a long, loving kiss. Alexander kissed back, tasted a salty tear, and pulled away to look at his husband. There were tears running down John's freckled cheeks, his eyes were red but there was a smile on his face.

"Why are you crying?" Alexander asked softly, wiping away a tear with his thumb.

"I'm just… I'm just so happy." John told him. "We're going to be daddies." More tears began to run down his cheeks and Alexander could feel tears welling up in his own eyes.

"We're going to be daddies."


	4. Chapter 4

John and Alexander Hamilton-Laurens stepped off of the bus when it stopped at the shopping center. Alexander carried a notebook in his hand and a pencil in the other, ready to make a list of everything they would need to turn his office into a nursery. They had not told anyone what they were doing today, not wanting to announce the addition to their family before they were positive everything would go correctly and actually happen, but they still needed a list of items and prices so they could begin saving.

John lead Alexander to Babies R' Us, the first stop today. They walked in, probably looking like two lost tourists with Alexander looking at the list in his notebook and John looking around the store with big eyes. They spoke softly to each other in Spanish to keep their conversation private, until an employee approached them.

"Good morning, is there anything I can help you with?" the woman asked them. Alexander smiled pleasantly.

"Which aisle are your cribs in?" he asked her. A crib was the very first thing they had on their list, followed closely by baby bottles and clothes. Of course they didn't know if they would have a girl or a boy yet, but they could at least get ideas of prices. The employee directed them to aisle four and they headed off that way after thanking her. John and Alexander spent nearly forty minutes just looking at cribs, comparing them to each other, looking up reviews on their phones. As Alex wrote in his notebook, John noticed a stuffed toy in one of the cribs. It was probably supposed to be some sort of cute monster, but it looked terrible and ugly. He held back a giggle as he held it up.

"Hey, hey, Alex." John got his attention. "Look, it's you." He laughed as Alexander looked at the ugly toy.

"Yuck… You could have done better." Alex responded with a grin, causing John to laugh even harder. This was one of the best parts of their relationship. They loved playing around with each other, joking and being childish. It was fun and made them laugh, and that made them happy. John put the toy away and tried to calm himself again. Alexander smiled and kissed his cheek. "You are absolutely ridiculous, tater tot." He told him.

"But you still love me." John smiled at . Alexander rolled his eyes and held his hand as they walked to the next aisle.

After nearly two hours, they had made created a long list of what they wanted from that store with the prices listed next to the item. John was honestly surprised they had been in the store so long without being kicked out. They had been laughing so loudly, and in an attempt to make Alexander laugh more, John had climbed into a Power Wheels Barbie Jeep and had gotten stuck, requiring Alexander to get him out. It did get Alexander laughing though, and he still laughed now whenever he pictured his tall husband squished into the pink Jeep saying "Alex, I made a mistake."

It took them until mid-afternoon to finish up their task. The notebook was almost completely filled with information and pros and cons lists, but they were happy with their decisions. John's stomach growled as they walked through the area. "Babe, I'm hungry. We should stop and eat something." Alexander nodded at him.

"Don't worry, I've got our lunch already planned." he reached into his wallet and pulled out two gift cards. "I've been saving these for the right time."

"Oh, Alexander~ You spoil me, my love." John leaned on him. "Taking me to such a fancy restaurant, what could I ever do to make it up to you?"

"Get something besides five orders of macaroni and cheese bites." Alexander said with a smirk.

"Babe, it's Sheetz, that's the best thing there."

John fiddled with his tie as he and Alexander sat in the lobby of the first adoption agency, waiting for the social worker to come get them for their interview. Alex took his hand and gave it a squeeze. They were both incredibly nervous, but Alexander was able to keep himself composed much better than John could. He was always the one to calm John down, knowing exactly what to say or do. John looked at Alexander, taking in how the color of his suit complimented his skin tone so nicely. His dark hair was in a clean ponytail and his beard was perfectly trimmed(thanks to help from Lafayette earlier that morning). John had his own suit and tie own, a light grey in color, with his hair in a low bun. He breathed deeply as Alexander used his thumb to rub calming circles on the back of his hand. The couple waited as patiently as they could for the social worker to come fetch them for their interview. When she did come out, John and Alex stood up in synchronization.

"Mr. Hamilton-Laurens?" she asked, looking at her clipboard as she approached them.

"Yes." they both replied. The social worker gestured for them to follow her back into her office. She was a young woman, probably in her thirties, with blonde hair and fair skin. She sat down at her desk and the couple sat in the chairs across from her. The worker put her clipboard down and smiled at them pleasantly.

"My name is Sarah Carmichael, it's nice to meet you." she held her hand out for them to shake.

"I'm Alexander Hamilton-Laurens and this is my husband John Hamilton-Laurens." Alex introduced them both as they shook Miss Carmichael's hand. She glanced back down at her clipboard for a moment.

"You two are looking to adopt your first child, correct?" she asked them. The men nodded and she smiled again. "Fantastic! Having a child just brings more joy and happiness to a family. How long have you two been married?"

"We just celebrated our second anniversary three months ago." Alexander said, smiling at John who smiled in return.

"Well congratulations, that is very exciting. Now, I just have a few questions to start off with." Sarah picked up a pen and began reading questions off a list on her clipboard. John let Alexander answer since his voice was much steadier than his own at the moment.

"Are you employed?"

"I work for the New York Times and John is a teacher at Bakerwood Elementary."

"Where do you live?"

"We have an apartment in the city."

"Do you have room for a child?"

"We are getting ready to turn my home office into a nursery."

"Do you have any pets?"

"Just a cat, very sweet and well behaved."

"Do either of you smoke?"

"I will have a cigar on occasion but I always smoke it outside." The questions continued to be rattled off and Alexander answered every one of them honestly and pleasantly. John was grateful that his husband managed to stay so calm. The social worker continued to rattle off question after question to the couple, and when she had finished, she handed them a large folder full of forms. John took the folder, a little shocked at how heavy it was, and asked what they were for.

"Those are documents you will need to read and more private forms that you need to fill out and answer completely honest. Those will help us figure out what type of child you are willing to adopt. Please fill them out and mail them back to us. Once we go through them we will call you and set up another meeting." Sarah smiled at them. "I really look forward to seeing you gentlemen again." They all stood and shook hands before Alex and John left the office. John put the folder in his bag and held Alex's hand.

"One down, three to go." John looked down at him. Alexander smiled in return and squeezed his hand.

"Hopefully they all go as well as that one." He said.

"I have a good feeling that they will." John said happily, but he was completely wrong. The next three interviews were awful and it left John close to tears and Alexander enraged. The first place told them that their apartment would not be an appropriate place to raise a child and would not let them fill out any forms unless they moved into a house, despite Alex trying to explain that they both worked in the city and couldn't really move. The second place told them that they did not accept same sex couples and had them leave, and the third agency was the worst of all. John and Alexander had been sitting in the crowded lobby, holding hands and waiting anxiously for their turn to go back and speak with an agent. A social worker at the front desk at taken notice and began to yell and scream. She went up to the two, screaming in their faces about how disgusting they were, how dare they try to corrupt a child by bringing them into a gay home.

"People like you don't deserve to have children! You made the decision to become sinners and go to hell, don't you dare try to drag a child down with you!" the woman screeched. One of the worst parts about the verbal abuse was that not a single other person in the lobby said a word, stood up for the young couple, tried to stop the woman. They all just sat in their seats with their head down, not even looking at John and Alexander. Alex stood up and dragged John out of the building, not saying a word, but planning a new article he would write for the Times. The altercation and brought up a mess of memories for John, ranging from when he first came out to his family to when he was disowned by his father. They were all incredibly painful and John struggled to keep his emotions in check.

"John listen to me, look around and tell me five things you can see." Alexander said. John looked around, his breathing shaky.

"I-I-I see a hot dog stand… people walking their dogs… birds eating crumbs… the taxis driving by… And I see you." John responded.

"Good, now five things you can hear."

"The leaves rustling, that guy playing his guitar, people talking on their phones, cars are honking their horns, and I hear footsteps."

"Very, good John, now five things you can taste." Alexander did this for John whenever he was thinking of painful memories. It would pull him from the pain and fear and bring him back to the present, to the safety and warmth of Alexander.

"I could taste the hot dogs… The candy from that store… Coffee over there… Fries from that stand and pizza from that shop." John was calming down now and Alexander smiled.

"There we go. It's all going to be okay." he said, though honestly he could not say for sure if it would be. He called for a taxi and let John lean on him for the entire ride home. John was large and heavy, but he was sensitive and sweet and Alexander loved him more than anything in this world. He twirled his fingers in John's soft hair and spoke to him in Spanish so they could keep their conversation private.

"Forget the last three interviews, they don't matter. Our first one today was fantastic, my love, and we have seven more over the next two weeks. It's all going to work out, I promise you." Alexander said calmly. John looked at him.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know us, John. We fight for what we want and we don't give up until we have it. We would have made fantastic politicians." Alex grinned and John let out a small laugh.

"You're too annoying to be a politician. You would get on everybody's nerves." John kissed his nose. Alexander feigned offense.

"How rude of you! That's it, no more sex for the rest of the week." Alexander crossed his arms.

"No!" John whined. "I'm sorry! Please don't take away sex!" He gave Alexander puppy dog eyes and stuck his bottom lip out. Alex rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright. I won't take away sex." Alex told him. John kissed him deeply. "Hey, control yourself. We're in a damn taxi, now is not the time."

That night, while John was cooking dinner for them, Alex snuck out onto the balcony to call Angelica Schuyler. He talked to her about the insanely homophobic woman that had been screaming at them, but did not disclose that it had been at an adoption agency. He ranted about everything and how it was complete bullshit for them to be treated in such a way.

"Well are you going to send them a complaint letter?" Angelica asked.

"Oh no, I'm going to put an article in the newspaper about it."

"Even better! You're a genius, Alexander!" Angelica laughed. Alex smiled as he listened to her laugh.

"So I was thinking. John really needs some cheering up and he has been incredibly needy as of late, so I was wondering if we could have a-"

"A disgusting friend party?" Angelica finished for him.

"Yes, exactly! What do you think?"

"Eliza and I were actually just talking about that." Angelica said, I'll call everyone up and see if we can do one tomorrow."

"Thank you, Angelica. Keep me updated!" They said goodbye and hung up. This party that they were planning was something that started back in college. They were all incredibly close and had little to no shame so they would get together to play rather dirty games, such as strip twister, never have I ever, and spin the bottle. It was all good fun and could get everyone laughing and in a good mood, and Alexander knew John loved it. He excitedly went inside and hugged John from behind. "Guess what, baby, we're going to a party tomorrow. One of Angelica's parties~" John stood straight and turned so he could look at Alexander.

"We're going to one? We haven't been to one since we were married! Are you really okay with it?" John asked. Alexander grinned, seeing the excitement in his eyes.

"We are really doing this. You and I will go over our personal rules tonight, okay?" he said. John nodded. "Good boy."

They went to bed that night with their legs tangled together. Alexander's head rested on John's chest, lulled by his steady breathing. John hand an arm wrapped around Alex's shoulders, his other stretched out. They were both extremely comfortable, taking in each other's warmth and knowing that they were loved, knowing that their love was not wrong. They had so much love for each other and knew they only had more to give to a child. They would spoil their baby near rotten, shower them with love and attend to their every need, raising them to be the best person they could ever be. They knew they could be great parents, and nothing anyone said could ever change that fact.


	5. Chapter 5

Alexander and John stood in their bedroom, packing their overnight bags for the party at the Schuyler's that night. They put their pajamas in the bags, their toiletries, clothes for the next day, and a movie they had been wanting to watch with everyone. This party was something that they really needed after all the negativity from the previous day. John opened up a box and held different items up to Alex to see if they wanted to bring any of them. Alex looked at everything with careful consideration and pointed out what to bring. They put them away in John's bag and zipped it up. They were just about ready to go, but Alexander had one more thing that needed to be done before they departed. He smiled at John and handed him a gift wrapped box.

"What's this?" John asked, taking the box from him.

"It's a present, I want you to wear it tonight. Go ahead, open it." Alex urged. John raised an eyebrow and ripped off the paper. A dark blush came to his cheeks as he looked at what the gift was. "Isn't it lovely? I want you to wear that under those close so when I kick your ass in twister tonight everyone will see them." John gave Alexander a pathetic look. He was completely embarrassed, but also a bit turned on by the idea of all of his friends seeing him in a pair of frilly booty shorts with garters holding up kneesocks. Alexander pinched John's butt and watched as he scurried off to put the lingerie on. Hamilton was excited to bring his husband to the party and have everyone see how sexy he was in his lingerie. He wanted to show off, make everyone want John, and let everyone know that John belonged to him. That tall, sexy southerner was his and nobody else could have him. It was a good thing that John loved getting the attention, he loved showing off. He was excitedly putting on his lingerie, pulling the lace kneesocks up his leg and fastening them to the garters. He checked to make sure the booty shorts looked alright in the mirror and was pleased by how lovely the soft pink ruffles looked against his darker skin. He smiled and admired himself a little more before slipping his jeans and band t-shirt back on. He put his converse on and went back to Alexander.

"Alright, I'm ready to go." he told Alex. The smaller man looked at him.

"Before we go, we need to set our rules for tonight." Alex said. John nodded and they went over what rules they would put into place. First off, no telling anyone about trying to adopt a baby. Second, no going to bed with anyone else, obviously. If a game required a more sexual act with someone else, they had to get approval from the other before they could do anything. If approval was not given, they had to back out of the game. They both agreed to their rules and called for an Uber to take them to the Schuyler house. They shared light kisses during the drive and tipped the driver extra when they arrived. Alex and John walked up to the front door and knocked. Eliza was the one who opened the door with a smile.

"Alexander! John!" She exclaimed, giving them both a hug. "I'm so glad you were able to make it! Come in, come in, we have appetizers set out right now!" Eliza lead them into the house. Their friends cheered loudly as they walked into the living room. Hercules and Angelica sat on the couch, eating appetizers and drinking some wine. Peggy was sitting on a beanbag chair with a can of soda and candy in her lap. Lafayette was standing against the wall, looking for something on his phone. Alexander and John got a couple snacks and a drink before they joined the others.

"Thanks for setting this party up, Angelica." John said. She smiled at him.

"I was happy to! We haven't had one in so long and I'm glad you two wanted to do this. Honestly I thought you wouldn't want to since you two are married." Angelica took a sip of her wine.

"We've set up some rules between us, but we both feel confident enough that none of you will steal us away." Alexander laughed.

"I may still try, mon cher." Lafayette teased with a smile, causing the others to laugh. "Once everyone is done with their appetizers we will be playing our first game." He put his phone back in his pocket and began moving some chairs to form a circle. Lafayette set a shot glass on each chair and got out a bottle of hard apple cider. It was a light drink, but he couldn't have everyone get drunk during their first game. The Frenchman turned and smiled at his friends.

"Come, come, everyone. Pick a seat, let's get started!" he clapped his hands and everyone moved from their spots on couches to the chairs Lafayette had moved. They held their shot glass and Laf went around the circle, filling each one up. He returned to his seat and grinned. "I don't believe I need to state the rules of this game, so I will just begin. Never have I ever… Made a move on a friend's ex." With a look of shame, Alexander and Angelica took a shot. The others let out a chorus of chuckles and "oohs" and Lafayette filled their shot glasses up again. Eliza was next.

"Never have I ever had anal sex." She watched as Lafayette, Alexander, John and Peggy took a shot. "Peggy!" she exclaimed in shock.

"What? I'm a big girl, Eliza." she said, filling her glass up again. She gave a smirk. "Never have I ever had a friend with benefits." Eliza blushed deeply as she and Lafayette both took a shot. The others laughed and the game continued.

"Never have I ever used a common household item as a sex toy." John, Alex, and Angelica took a shot.

"Never have I ever given or received a lap dance." Peggy, Eliza, and Alexander took a shot.

"Never have I ever received a noise complaint immediately after sex." Hercules and Angelica took a shot.

"Never have I ever performed a striptease for someone." John and Angelica took a shot.

"Never have I ever fooled around with a really close friend just to see what it was like." John, Alexander, Lafayette, and Eliza all took a shot.

"Never have I ever fooled around in the movies." Everyone took a shot.

"Never have I ever had to help a guy unhook my bra." Peggy said. Angelica gave her boyfriend a look as she took a shot. Hercules looked down in embarrassment as their friends roared with laughter. The game continued for nearly forty minutes, keeping them laughing and cheering and teasing. It made John feel warm inside, but maybe that was from all the shots he had been taking. Once the game ended, meaning the bottle of alcohol was empty, Lafayette set it in the middle of the circle.

"We haven't played spin the bottle at a party before." He said with a smirk. "Obviously the sisters don't have to kiss each other if the bottle lands on them." Lafayette returned to his seat. John looked at Alexander to make sure this game would be alright for them to play. Alex nodded in approval and John smiled excitedly. He was up first and his spin landed on Peggy. Now, John had no interest in women, but this was just a game and he was a good sport. He and Peggy walked to the middle of the circle and he bent down to kiss her lips. Peggy's cheeks heated up as she kissed her friend. Alexander smirked as he watched. John was an amazing kisser, and this was a great chance to show off that skill and leave everyone craving more, even though they couldn't have anymore. John and Peggy returned to their seats and Peggy spun the bottle. It landed on Angelica and they kissed on the cheeks. The game went on with Angelica kissing Alexander, Alexander kissing Eliza, Eliza kissing Hercules, and then Herc's spin landed on John and there was an excited uproar. Hercules looked at John with wide eyes. He had never kissed a man before, and this was one of his best friends.

"Do we really have to?" he asked nervously. John smirked and beckoned him over with one finger.

"Get over here, Mulligan. I'll take good care of you." John said as he stood up. Their friends began to chant "kiss him" as Hercules walked over to Laurens. They stood there, just looking at each other in silence for a minute. "Oh for fucks sake." John grabbed his friend and pressed their lips together. The group cheered loudly, Angelica clapping her hands as she laughed. John moved his lips against Herc's gently and Hercules slowly began to kiss back. Lafayette cleared his throat and the two parted.

"Not so bad, huh?" John grinned.

"It wasn't… terrible." Hercules looked away. "But I think I'm going to stick with the ladies." John laughed and went to spin the bottle. It landed on Lafayette, and everybody could see how excited John became and how incredibly jealous Alexander became. Nobody else in their group had kissed Lafayette before, but John and Alexander both had and knew how amazing it was. Lafayette sat back in his seat, not getting up.

"You know the rules, mon cher." He said with a smirk. John looked at Alexander, received approval, and quickly sat on Lafayette's lap so they could begin a fevered make out session. Lafayette's large dark hands held onto John's hips. His hands wanted to move down to grab his ass, but he knew better. John was a married man after all. They finally pulled away, a little breathless. "Go back to your seat, I want your husband now." Lafayette whispered to him. John obeyed and went to sit down. Lafayette took the bottle, but instead of spinning it, he simply moved it to point at Alexander. The shorter man practically pounced on him, kissing him immediately. It was his turn to be spoiled by the Frenchman, and he was going to enjoy every second of it. He tangled his fingers in Lafayette's ponytail, loving the way his natural curls felt. This reminded him of the times when he and John would invite the Frenchman over for threesomes, but that hadn't happened since their engagement. Maybe he would talk to John about it again… They pulled apart and Alexander returned to his seat. Lafayette grinned and looked at his friends. "My apologies. I think we need to end this game before it becomes anything more." The others agreed, still shocked by the intense making out they had just witnessed.

They all decided to take a break and relax for awhile, eating more and drinking. John and Alexander snuck off to the bathroom. John pushed Alexander against the wall and kissed him deeply, pressing their bodies together. Alexander gripped his hair tightly, always grabbed hair, always pulled, not that John was complaining. John licked Alexander's bottom lip, requesting entry. Alexander parted his lips and felt John's tongue slip inside, running across his teeth and nudging his own tongue. As they made out, John reached down and began palming Alexander's crotch.

"Damn… Lafayette really turned you on, didn't he?" John asked against his lips. Alexander whimpered and nodded. "I'll have to take care of this for you." John kissed his neck for a few moments before sliding down to his knees. He unzipped Alexander's pants and pulled them down to his calves. He leaned in, letting his nose and hot breath caress Alexander's half hard dick. Alexander groaned and bucked his hips, wanting John to just get on with it. John chuckled and kissed him through his underwear. "So impatient." He slowly pulled Alexander's boxers down and took a moment to admire the beauty of his member before taking him in his hand and jerking him slowly, getting his fully hard. He rubbed his thumb across Alexander's slit and watched as he tried to hold back a moan. John grinned and took Alexander into his mouth, running his tongue around the tip. Alexander closed his eyes and bucked into John's warm mouth. John grabbed his hips and held him still. He was much bigger than Alexander, more muscular and therefore stronger, so it was easy to hold Alexander still. John ran his tongue along Alex's dick and bobbed his head. His movements varied from agonizingly slow to fast and deep. He sucked hard and swallowed a few times, trying to bring him to a quick release before anyone became too suspicious. Alexander bit his hand to keep from moaning too loudly as his husband deepthroated him. John let Alexander's dick just sit there, deep in his throat for a moment, torturing Alexander who wanted movement, wanted friction. John chuckled around Alex and went back to sucking him off. Alexander pulled at John's hair, signalling that he was about to cum. John took him deep into his mouth once more and greedily swallowed every last drop of Alexander's load. He pulled off of him with a wet 'pop'. John smiled up at his panting husband. Alexander looked back down at him.

"Tonight… When everyone goes to sleep… You and me… we're fucking." Alexander said. John smiled excitedly.

"Babe, I have a thought. After you and I have our alone time… How about we invite our favorite Frenchman to have some fun?" John wiggled his eyebrows.

"You read my mind, I was just thinking about that. Let him know, baby." Alex said. He started cleaning himself up as John went over to the door. He put his lips close to the wood.

"Did you hear that, Lafayette?" John asked, his southern accent coming out a smidge.

"Every word." Came Lafayette's voice from the other side. Alexander looked at the door with wide eyes.

"My god, was he there the entire time? Lafayette, you pervert." Alex said. There was the sound of soft laughing on the other side.

"I'll see you both later tonight." Lafayette said before walking back to the party. Alexander shook his head and looked at John.

"Did you know he was listening to us?" Alex asked. John popped a few mints in his mouth and nodded. "I heard him lean against the door." John thought about it, thought about the taller man leaning against the bathroom door, listening to all the noises, to Alex's quiet moans, probably touching himself, craving them. It made John shudder with anticipation, knowing that Lafayette would thoroughly enjoy his time with them both later. And to be honest, this was probably the last time they would do anything as lewd as a threesome. When they had their baby they would be stopping all of this. No more parties like this, no more dirty games, no more threesomes. Hell, they knew that it would be hard for just the two of them to have sex for awhile once the baby would be there. But they would deal with it, anyway a baby was more important to them than sex was.

Once they had freshened up, they returned to the party and sat down with a drink in their hands. Lafayette looked over at them with a smile, but nobody else seemed suspicious. John and Alexander sipped their drinks while Peggy set up their next game, strip Twister. John turned red as soon as he saw the spotted mat. This was it, the game he was terrible at. He would lose over and over and have to strip until everyone saw the lingerie that Alexander had bought for him. Alexander squeezed his hand and smiled at his partner, looking forward to this. "I can't wait for everyone to see how pretty you look in your bloomers, baby." Alexander said in Spanish to him.

"Fuck you." was the reply he received, also in Spanish.

"Later, be patient." Alexander reached behind him to pinch his butt, causing John to let out a yelp.

Everyone stood beside the mat, except for Peggy who would be in charge of the spinner. John willed his dark blush to go away, but that seemed impossible. Alexander was bouncing lightly with excitement as he smiled at his husband. Peggy spun the arrow and called for them to place their right hands on blue. She called out color after color. Left hand yellow, right foot red, left foot red. It continued to get them all into a big tangled mess, and John could feel his feet starting to slip. No no no no no… His foot slipped completely and he fell, taking Eliza down with him and practically pinning her under his leg. "Ah! Mr. John Hamilton-Laurens! You are the first to drop!" Lafayette laughed.

"No surprise there." Hercules chimed in. "Now you lose a clothing item. No, ponytails don't count." John slowly put the ponytail he had tried to take out back and took off his shirt instead. He was toned, but his muscles were not very defined. Freckles spread from his face, down his neck, and to his chest. Alexander thought it was the cutest thing. They moved on to the next round, and John knew exactly what was at stake here. Everyone got into position and listened to what Peggy called out. Thanks to sheer luck, John managed to last a few rounds. Lafayette and Hercules were both topless now, and Angelica was without her shirt and pants. John did not get so lucky in the next round, and it was because Alexander cheated. John's rear was directly in front of the immigrant's face, and the cheeky bastard leaned forward and bit him, causing John to squeal and tumble down.

"You cheated!" he cried out, pointing at Alexander. "He cheated! This doesn't count!" Alexander gave a smug grin.

"None of us saw it, John." Eliza said. "You know the rules. He wasn't caught, so you still lose." John whined and Lafayette helped him up.

"I saw him. You and I can punish him later… Biting is not permitted." the Frenchman whispered to him, shooting a look at Alexander, whose eyes widened in fear. "Now take those pants off." John obeyed and with a dark blush on his cheeks, he slowly took his pants off. His friends' mouths hung open when they saw the frilly pink bloomers, then the garters, and then the kneesocks. Alexander smiled with pride and Lafayette looked him up and down.

"Mon dieu, Alexander…" He said softly. "Is this your doing?"

"Oui, yes it is." Alexander smirked at him.

"That looks like something I would wear." Eliza said softly. John was terribly embarrassed, but he loved the attention. Things like this… Showing off for his husband, making others want him but know they couldn't have him… The hungry looks, the shocked looks… He loved it all, no matter embarrassing it was. John looked at Alexander you gave him a nod of approval.

"Come on, let's finish our game before bed."

The night wore on and the friends grew tired. Everyone settled in the living room, setting up sleeping bags on the couches and on the carpet. They settled in, and when Alexander could hear the snoring and steady breathing of the others, he took John away to the basement. When they were in college, they would have their parties down here. There was a pullout couch down there and Alexander set their bag down before he helped John set it up. Once it was set up, John pinned Alexander to the old mattress. He kissed him passionately on the lips before moving to kiss his ears and jawline and neck. John plastered kisses all over his husband as he grinded his hips against Alexander's. They felt desperate, every touch, every kiss was frantic. They wanted each other so badly, needed each other. Alexander tugged John's shirt off while John tried to unbutton his. They tossed their shirts to the side and Alexander leaned up so he could press kisses to John's freckled chest. His tongue flicked across John's nipples, causing him to let out a delicious moan. Yes, Alexander wanted to hear more of that. He pushed against John's chest, wanting to make him lay back. John did as Alexander wished and craned his neck to watch what he was doing. Alexander kissed all over John's chest, his collarbone, his pectorals, his abs. He kissed down the trail of hair that disappeared down his pants. Alexander mouthed at the bulge in John's jeans, loving the whining that came from John's mouth, begging him to keep going. The smaller man hooked his fingers in John's jeans and pulled them down in a swift motion, his boxer coming down as well due to the force. John's cock was half hard, nestled among dark pubic hair. Alexander pressed a kiss to the tip of it before licking a trail down to the base and then back up. John closed his eyes and moaned softly as Alexander took him into his mouth, getting his completely hard. Alex's mouth was soft and sweet, his movements thought out and in a precise pattern. Thirty seconds of sucking, twenty of swirling his tongue, another twenty of licking up and down the shaft, ten seconds of teasing the slit at the tip, and repeat. John had found it rather amusing when he first realized that Alexander had created a pattern for blowing him, but it was honestly such an Alexander thing to do. He had practiced and used trial and error until he had found the perfect way to please his partner.

Alexander pressed his tongue to the slit, causing John to jolt. He felt a warmth start to rise and he gently tugged Alexander's hair. "Papi… get off, I'm going to cum." he groaned. Alexander refused and instead took more of him in and swallowed around his cock. John bit his lip to keep from crying out in pleasure as he came inside of Alex's mouth. Alexander swallowed the salty substance and opened his mouth to show John that it was all gone. "Fuck… Alexander you're so hot…" Alexander smiled proudly and took a bottle of lube out of the bag. He removed his pants and boxers, knelt on the mattress, and took John's hand, spreading a generous amount of lavender scented lube onto his fingers. He lead John's hand underneath him and to his entrance. He looked at John with half lidded chocolate eyes. John was already getting hard again just from looking at him. He circled Alex's entrance slowly before pressing his middle finger into him. Alexander whimpered as John fingered him, stretching him. He rolled his hips on his fingers, wanting to feel more. John happily complied, adding a second and then a third finger.

"Okay… that's enough…" Alexander said after a few minutes of basically riding John's fingers. John removed his fingers and watched as Alexander poured more lube into his hand and spread it around John's now hard dick. Alex positioned himself, holding onto John's member, and slowly lowered himself down. He squeezed his eyes shut as John's dick stretched him even more. John held onto his hips and moaned as he was engulfed in the warmth of Alexander's ass. Hamilton breathed slowly, trying to get used to the pressure he felt. Slowly, he began to move, rising up and then lowering back down in a steady pace. Out of every sex position they had tried, riding was Alexander's favorite thing. His speed picked up and he began to roll his hips. John's hands squeezed his hips. He was fighting the intense desire to start thrusting into Alexander with no mercy, but he was good and let Alexander what he wanted. At least for awhile. Eventually John could no longer handle the slow speed he was going at, so he grabbed Alexander and flipped him over onto his back before thrusting back inside of him. Alexander cried out in pleasure as John pounded into him, the old mattress beneath them groaning in protest. John captured his lips in a heated kiss to silence his moans as he thrust balls deep into the Caribbean's ass. Alexander pulled out of the kiss and spoke in quick Spanish, begging for more and telling John how good he was. It spurred the southerner on and he thrust even faster. Alexander bit his hand to stop from screaming out as he tightened around John and came on both their chests. John groaned and came deep inside of Alexander. They lay there, in a sweaty heap for a few minutes until they heard a knock at the basement door.

"Mes amies, may I come play now?" Lafayette asked on the other side of the door. John and Alexander smiled at each other. They had nearly forgotten their plan.

"Vous pouvez venir." Alexander replied in French. Lafayette entered and closed the door behind him. He walked down the stairs and smiled at what he saw.

"My, my. Did you two have fun? John, you haven't even pulled out yet, is he that warm that you just can't bear to?" Lafayette walked over to them and ran his hand along John's back down to his ass. He pushed against him, which in turn made him go deeper into Alexander. "Fuck him again, I have other plans at the moment." John obeyed his order and started thrusting into Alexander again while Lafayette took his pants off. He knew this was a one time thing, that it wouldn't happen again, and he planned of thoroughly enjoying it. As John fucked Alexander, Lafayette had him suck him off. Alexander was eager and took Lafayette into his mouth quickly. He had no set routine for pleasing him so he had to just guess and do what he could. Lafayette was a quiet lover, he rarely made any noise so it was incredibly difficult to know what he really enjoyed, but they both had some knowledge of how to make Laf happy since they had both dated him at one point. John bent over as he rolled his hips in and out of Alexander's warmth, watching him bob his head on Lafayette's large cock. John practically began to salivate, craving the chance to suck on Lafayette. This was such a treat, he was so excited. John thrust harder into Alex, taking great pleasure in hearing him moan around Lafayette.

Just when the husbands were both getting close, Lafayette barked an order to stop what they were doing. John ceased his thrusting and Alexander moved off of Lafayette. They both looked at him desperately. "Oh, my loves, don't look so upset. We are only changing positions. John, on your hands and knees. Alexander, on your knees on the ground".The two scrambled to their new spots. Lafayette took the bottle of scented lube that was laying off to the side and spread some on his fingers. "I'm going to prepare you, John. Alexander, don't you dare try to touch him." Alexander pouted.

"But why?" he asked in an incredibly whiny tone.

"You were so bad earlier during the game. You bit your sweet husband, so now you get to sit there and watch as I fuck him. I'll tell you when you're allowed to join in again." Lafayette smiled as Alexander whined in protest and began to rattle off reasons why it wasn't fair. "Alexander, argueing only makes things worse. If you keep trying to fight this then I'll just stay with John all night and you will never get a turn." Alexander immediately shut up. There was no way he was going to risk losing a night with both John and Laf. John chuckled softly at his reaction before moaning as Lafayette slipped a finger inside of him. John rolled his hips back onto Lafayette's fingers as he was stretched. He was rarely on the bottom during sex, rarely ever submissive. John was always dominant and in control. Alexander found it incredibly sexy when his beloved was submissive, when he was begging to be fucked, and seeing him now made it incredibly hard to resist the urge to jump up on the pullout couch and push Lafayette away so he could take the southerner himself. Alexander watched with hungry eyes as the Frenchman finished preparing John and readied himself. Lafayette spread the lubricant on his massive member and thrust into John with no warning, causing him to scream into the pillow on the bed. Lafayette had little mercy when it came to sex. He thrust in fast and deep, the sound of skin slapping skin filling the basement. John moaned and tried his best to move his hips back against Lafayette. This was just like how he remembered sex with Lafayette in their dorm room. He went hard and fast, knew exactly where to thrust so he could hit John's prostate each time. Lafayette could drive people crazy with his techniques, make them beg for more, beg him to make them cum. Alexander was stroking himself as he watched the display, listening to John moan for Lafayette.

"Laf… Lafayette… Lafayette… A-Alexander…" the last moan that fell from John's mouth made Alex's eyes widen. "Alexander… I need Alexander…" Even while he was being fucked by someone they both considered to be a sex god, John was moaning for his husband. He was wanted, needed. Lafayette looked over at Alex and told him to kneel in front of John. Alexander did as he was instructed and John immediately took Alex into his mouth. He sucked and deepthoated him almost immediately. He licked and sucked and swallowed. He could taste the cum that had not been cleaned up from their first round, as well as the precum leaking from his tip now. John lapped it up, loving the salty taste of his husband. Lafayette leaned over John so he could kiss Alexander. He slipped his tongue inside and swirled it around Hamilton's. He swallowed every moan that came from his mouth as they both enjoyed the warmth that was John Hamilton-Laurens. Alexander's kissing became more feverish and he began to buck into John's mouth, a sure sign he was nearing his limit. Lafayette picked up his pace, pounding into John's prostate to try and get them to release at the same time. Alexander ended up releasing first and John swallowed every last drop of semen. John writhed and came next, his seed spilling onto the sheets. Lafayette came last, releasing himself inside of John's ass. The three panted, but they were not done yet. Lafayette pulled out of John, watching the white substance drip out of his ass.

"It's your turn with me, little lion." Lafayette said, turning to Alexander. Alex looked at him with a tired smile. He was getting exhausted, but he was not going to miss out on this. Lafayette could tell he was getting tired and he smiled softly. "Lay on your side. I'll fuck you slowly." Alexander laid on his side and Lafayette got behind him, spooning him. He lifted one of Alex's legs and gently pressed inside of him. Alex moaned in pleasure as he was filled slowly. John moved to lay on the other side of Alexander, facing him. They leaned in close to each other and shared loving kisses, John's hand sneaking down to stroke him gently. Alexander's hand did the same, reaching down and beginning to stroke John's cock. Lafayette slid in and out of Alexander slowly and gently, yet deep enough to still graze against his prostate. Alexander felt wonderful and spoiled with Lafayette behind him, fucking him gently and pressing kisses to the back of his neck, and with his sweet husband in front of him, stroking him, kissing him, and whispering sweet nothings to him in Spanish. He felt so loved and cared for, the two men were making sure he felt wonderful. The slow pace of everything was incredibly pleasing, and Alex was so happy that he got to take one of these fantastic men home with him. Alexander moaned both of their names and arched his back as he came into John's hand. The sudden tightness made Lafayette spill his seed inside of Alexander and John came with just a few more strokes from Alex. They were all a sweaty, panting mess when they were done. Lafayette pulled out of Alexander and cuddled with them for a moment before getting up.

"I'm going to get a wash cloth to clean up." He said. "I'll be right back." Lafayette snuck upstairs quietly to get the cloth. John snuggled close to Alexander, ready to fall asleep.

"I love you so much, Alex…" He said softly. "I love you more than anything in this world."

"And I love you with all my heart and all my soul, John." Alexander replied with a soft smile. They were both half asleep when Lafayette returned. The Frenchman cleaned them up with the warm wash cloth, his movements gentle and kind.

"Thank you both for letting me join you one last time. I had a lot of fun with you two." Lafayette said, smiling at them. He had loved both of these men, dating them both before. He had had threesomes with them before, but he knew that they were not his anymore. They belonged to each other, and Lafayette couldn't even be upset. He was so happy for John and Alexander, they were so in love and Lafayette could only wish for more happiness for them. And even though they weren't his anymore, the three of them snuggled that night, feeling warm and safe in each other's arms.

Lafayette, John, and Alexander woke up late the next morning. They dressed, cleaned up, and put the pullout bed away. When the three of them went upstairs, they were greeted with the delicious scent of Eliza's special pancakes and the knowing stares of all of their friends.

"Have a fun night?" Angelica asked them. John and Alexander blushed and looked down while Lafayette smiled and nodded.

"It was a fantastic night." he said, joining the others at the table. He made plates for himself and the two blushing men. They sat down and ate the pancakes. Eliza's pancakes were amazing and she kept her recipe a complete secret, much to her friends' dismay. The group changed topics from the noises they had all heard from the basement that night to various things in their lives. They talked and joked and laughed and everything was absolutely fantastic. John looked around at the people sitting at the table and smiled happily. He honestly could never ask for a better group of friends.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"Alexander, please relax. You've dusted that room three times now." John looked at his husband who was running around the apartment, frantically cleaning everything again and again and again. He dusted everything he could. He cleaned the table, the couch, the television. He did this to every room, cleaned everything in the house. Even Nugget, though he fought valiantly against it, received a bath.

"I can't relax, John. The social worker will be here at any time and the apartment needs to be spotless." Alexander looked at a stack of books on the coffee table and proceeded to arrange them alphabetically. John rolled his eyes and went over to him.

"Alexander, please." John put his arms around him, keeping him from moving more. "Everything looks perfect. You've cleaned everything but yourself. Please, go take a shower." Alexander's eyes went wide.

"Oh my god I haven't showered! I'll be right back, don't mess anything up!" Alexander ran off to the bathroom, unbuckling his belt as he went. John sighed and sat on the couch. He was nervous as well, but he had to hide it so Alexander didn't stress out even more. The South Carolinian looked around the apartment, taking note of the highchair in the kitchen, the baby swing in the living room, and the large amount of books that now filled various shelves and tables in the apartment. They had to move everything out of Alex's study so they would be able to get the crib, changing table, rocking chair, and baby toys inside and turn it into a nursery. They had painted the walls a soft yellow and put down white carpeting, making it a cozy little room for a baby. John smiled softly at the thought of a baby sleeping in that crib, of getting to sit in that rocking chair and feed them or rock them to sleep. When the social worker came they would finish up the last of their paper work and make an application to send off to parents and agencies with babies waiting for a family. Then they just had to wait, wait and see if they were chosen to bring a baby home. John closed his eyes, fantasizing about being a father. He pictures Alexander holding the baby in his lap, reading books to them ranging from Stella Luna to Kallaloo to Moby Dick. He pictured himself teaching the baby to walk and talk, imagined both Alexander and himself speaking both Spanish and English to the baby, maybe Alexander would speak French as well. A trilingual child… imagine the scholarships. John was roused from his daydreams by Alexander running in the room, fully dressed with his wet hair tied into a ponytail. He looked up at his frantic husband in confusion as he ran to the door.

"What are you doing, John? The social worker is here, why didn't you buzz her in?" Alexander asked before buzzing the worker in so she could come up to the apartment. John hadn't heard the doorbell at all, he must have been really into his daydream. "Quick! Go warm up some coffee and put some cookies on a plate!" John nodded and ran into the kitchen. He warmed up some coffee from the pot they had made earlier and poured some chips ahoy cookies onto one of their nicer plates. He set the plate on the coffee table, shooed the cat away, and went back to stand beside Alexander. He gave his hand a squeeze as they waited for the social worker to come to the door, and when they heard a knock, John scooped up the startled cat and Alexander opened the door. "Welcome to our home, Miss Carmichael. It's so nice to see you again." Alexander moved aside so she could enter the apartment.

"Hello, Mr. Hamilton-Laurens." She said to him. She then turned to John. "And hello to you, Mr. Hamilton-Laurens. Oh, who is this handsome gentleman?" She asked, looking at the orange tabby in his arms.

"This is Nugget, he's a sweetheart." John said with a smile. Miss Carmichael reached out and pet his head which got the cat purring immediately. She smiled, pleased to see that the cat did not lash out with claws or teeth. A cat like that would not be safe to have around a baby. John set the cat down and looked at Alexander. "Shall we get the grand tour started?" He asked. The social worker gave a nod and followed Alexander and John through the apartment to see all it had to offer. They showed her the kitchen and all the clips they had to baby proof the cabinets, they showed her the living room and the baby swing that was set up there. Nugget was taking a nap in it which caused the others the laugh. "Well, I guess that's his swing for now." They moved along to the bathroom and they showed her the little tub they had to bathe a baby, then they came to their bedroom, and finally there was the nursery.

"We moved all of the original furniture out of the room so we could make this the nursery." Alexander said. Miss Carmichael walked in and looked around at all the toys and pale yellow walls. She knelt down to feel incredibly soft carpet and then stood to examine the crib. She wrote a few things down on her clipboard, but seemed rather pleased with everything. She turned to them with a smile on her face.

"I'm pleased with this. The only complaint I have is that you need to move the cat's litter box into an area where the baby will not be able to get into it. Babies grab everything and tend to put whatever they grab in their mouths. So as long as you move that to say, the bathroom, then you'll be fine. I'm approving you." Miss Carmichael smiled widely at them. "I have a few more forms for you to fill out and then we can get you into the system and send your profile out to different agencies. Once they are set out, you'll have to just play the waiting game and hope you get a call." John and Alexander's eyes were wide with excitement. They did it, they were approved! They would they would be in the system! They were going to get their baby! Alexander wanted to tackle John and kiss him, but that probably was not appropriate to do at the moment. They sat down at the kitchen table and drank some coffee as the social worker explained everything they would be filling out. John nibbled on a cookie as she explained the different decisions they would have to make when describing what kind of child they would adopt. The age group, the race, the gender, if they would adopt an abused child, a disabled child, a sick child. There were so many questions and some of them absolutely broke their hearts. Would you adopt a child who had been the victim of sexual abuse? Would you adopt a child who witnessed extreme violence? Would you adopt a victim of child prostitution? Each question hurt to read, made tears come to John's eyes, and it hurt more when they had to circle "no" on some of the questions. Would you adopt a refugee? Would adopt a child immigrant? Would you adopt a child who did not speak English? Alexander didn't even have to ask John what to put down. He circled yes to each of those questions. "I'm an immigrant from the Caribbean." Alexander explained when the social worker raised an eyebrow at their quick response. "I came here when I was seventeen." They continued to fill out the forms and returned them to Miss Carmichael. The last thing they needed was a picture. They moved to stand in front of a bare wall and stood close to each other, smiling happily, as Miss Carmichael took a picture of them with a company camera.

"Perfect. I'll get everything set up for you and give you a call when you are registered, just so you know." She grinned at them. "I'm really cheering for you two." She said goodbye to them and left the apartment. As soon as she was gone, Alexander launched himself onto John, kissing him passionately. John held him close, kissing him back with just as much passion. They had done it, they were going to have a baby. Well, they were at least getting their application out there to parents. Now they just had to wait and pray for things to work in their favor.

Months passed as they waited for a reply. John continued teaching at the elementary school, his colleagues loved him, and Alexander was busy as usual with the New York Times, his colleagues didn't like him so much. Alexander was always arguing about something with someone. He constantly called people out in his articles and often got into feuds via newspaper with a reporter from a rival newspaper. Washington, his boss, would always pull him into his office to scold him about his fights, but Alexander would always reply with "Aaron Burr is wrong so I have to correct him." This ridiculous feud had begun back when the two men had both applied for the same job at the New York Times. They were both incredibly talented and certainly qualified for the job, but Alexander was exceptional and Burr just couldn't compete. Burr had been bitter about it ever since, always looking for someway to try and get Alex fired so he could take the job for himself. At the moment, Alexander was furiously writing an article against Aaron Burr and about how he had no beliefs and nothing to stand for which made him a poor journalist. He typed line after line swiftly, his fingers dancing over the keys, but stopped when he heard the door open.

"Alexander!" John's voice rang out. "Alexander, there's a letter from an agency!" He ran into the kitchen and shoved the envelope into his husband's face like a gleeful child. Alexander took the envelope and closed his laptop. John looked at him with excitement as he opened it up.

"Dear Mr. John and Alexander Hamilton-Laurens. We thank you for your application and your interest in adopting a child in need of a family, however, we regret to inform you that you do not fit what we are looking for at the current time. We wish you the best in your search of a child, and hope that you will send your application in to us again in the future." Alexander's voice became softer as he read. He could feel his heart breaking and John's joy drained from his body.

"Oh…" was the only thing that left John's lips before an onslaught of tears came pouring down. He felt like his world was shattering, he had been so excited for this, and now this letter crushed his hopes and dreams. He sank to the floor and covered his face with his hands, shoulders shaking as he sobbed. It wasn't fair, they were good people, they just wanted to be parents. Why were they rejected? Alexander was enraged. He tore the letter to shreds and grabbed the envelope. He wrote down the address and started angrily scratching out a hand written letter demanding to know why they were rejected since it did not say in the letter they had received. What were they looking for? Did they want families with bigger homes? Rich families? Heterosexual families? White families? What the hell was it? It wasn't fair of them to reject them without giving an actual reason why. The letter wasn't nearly as long as some he would write, this was only two pages, but he was too enraged to continue writing. He shoved it in an envelope and put the address on it.

"They won't get away with this so easy, John." Alex said as he went to his husband. He took his hands and made him stand up. "I know it hurts, I hurt too, but we are not giving up. We are going to keep fighting for this." He looked up at him with a serious expression, though he was blinking rapidly to keep tears from falling. "Do you understand me? We are not stopping. We are getting a baby." John gave a little nod, but this just hurt so much.

"I need fresh air…" He said in a shaking voice. "And I need some time alone…" He moved away from Alexander and went out onto the balcony. He leaned on the railing and took deep breaths as the cool November wind whipped around him, blowing his curly brown hair in his face. His chest hurt and he just had this empty feeling inside of him. He knew Alexander was right, this wasn't the end, they would keep trying and fighting for a child, but this rejection just hurt so much. He took out his cellphone and called his sister's number, wanting to talk to her, needing to.

"Hello, Mary Laurens speaking." Her voice came through the receiver.

"Mary, it's John." her brother said.

"John! How is every… John? What's wrong? Why are you crying? Are you alright, is Alexander alright?" Mary asked when she heard the tears in John's voice. "What's going on?"

"I'm fine, Alex is fine… But we got a rejection letter from an adoption agency just now.. We apparently aren't what they are looking for."

"Well, what are they looking for?"

"That's just it, we have no idea. They didn't specify in the letter so we don't know if it's something that can be changed or if it's them being racist and homophobic…"

"Are you kidding me? They didn't even tell you? That's bullshit!" Mary exclaimed. "That's bullshit and that's not fair to you two." She sounded very upset. Nobody was allowed to hurt her older brother like this, nobody was allowed to make his heart break or make him cry like this.

"I just want to be a daddy… We're working so hard to have a baby… And thanks to the money you sent we were able to buy more toys and furniture and diapers… We just want a baby…" He cried as he spoke and Mary barely understood him.

"It's going to be alright, John. This isn't the end of the battle. You have to push through and keep fighting for your family. Your application was sent to multiple agencies, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then what are you crying for? This was just one letter. There are plenty more that have you on file, this one doesn't matter. Don't get discouraged, there's no need to. You are going to be a daddy, Jack, you will be, and you'll be the best damn daddy in the world. This one rejection won't take that opportunity away from you. It's all going to work out in the end, you'll see, and I'll be here to support you every step of the way." Mary assured him with a gentle voice. John sniffled and wiped his eyes.

"That's what Alexander said. He said this wasn't the end… But it sure feels like it is." John mumbled sadly.

"Jack, listen to me. Your husband is right. Listen to him, listen to me. You cannot let yourself dwell on this, you have to pick yourself up and continue. If you keep hanging onto something that happened in the past, you'll never be able to go forward. You can be hurt by it now, let your sorrow out now, but then you have to stick up your chin, and grin, and say the sun with come out tomorrow." She sang the last line and John couldn't help but smile and let out a breathy chuckle. "I know you're smiling. Keep that smile now and go back to your hubby. I'm sure he's hurting too, so you need to be there for him. And I'll be there for you in a few weeks for Thanksgiving. Well, I'll mainly be there for the mashed potatoes, but I'll also be there for you."

John couldn't help but chuckle again. "Thank you, Mary, I needed that. I'll see you for Thanksgiving. I love you."

"I love you too, big brother. See you later." They both hung up and John let out a long sigh. He still hurt, but John knew she and Alex were right. This was just one rejection letter, there were so many more applications out there. He shouldn't judge the outcome on one letter. John put his phone in his pocket and went back inside to Alex. Alexander was standing by the kitchen counter, gripping the edges tightly. John went over to him and took his hand, gently leading him over to the couch. He sat down and pulled Alexander into his lap, holding him close. They snuggled close together and stayed silent, not saying a word for a very long time.

"This isn't the end, right?" John asked softly. Alexander shook his head.

"No way in hell is this end. I'm fighting for our family, we will fight for our family. We may not be what they want, but we are the perfect family for some child out there, and when we find them, we will be complete. We just have to keep pushing." Alexander said to him. John nodded.

"We just have to keep fighting."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

A few weeks had passed since John and Alexander had received the rejection letter, and while it still hurt to think about, they were moving on and did not lose their hope. They had other things to distract them at the time anyway. Thanksgiving was only a few days away and John's younger sister, Mary, was arriving today. The men were waiting in the airport for her, ready to help with her bags and take her back to the apartment. John held a sign in his hands so his sister would be able to spot them in the crowd. He was practically bouncing with excitement, a big smile on his face. John had not seen his sister since he announced his engagement to Alexander because of their father. This was the first year Mary had stood up to Henry and told him she was going to her see her brother. Henry was definitely not pleased at all, but he hadn't stopped her, and John couldn't wait. Alexander looked at his watch, noting that they still had another ten minutes before the plane was supposed to arrive. He was nervous about seeing Mary Laurens. They had only met one time before this and that was when he and John went down to South Carolina to tell John's family about their engagement, which gotten them thrown out of the house and John disowned. The ordeal had been awful and left John feeling so unloved, so unwelcome, and though Alexander did everything he could, it had been difficult to pull him out of that depression. Alexander smiled now, seeing his over six foot tall husband bounce with pure joy as he waited for his little sister. John was adorable. He became excited very easily and would be nothing but smiles and bouncing. Alexander was the exact same way which made them quite the sight when they were both excited about something. Alexander and John waited not so patiently for the plane to arrive, and when the announcement came over the speaker system, John smiled widely.

"Flight four hundred and twenty-seven from Charleston now arriving at gate nineteen." The announcement said. John bounced excitedly and Alexander chuckled, thinking about how absolutely adorable he was. The southerner held the sign high over his head as the passengers of flight four hundred and twenty-seven entered the airport. It didn't take long for Mary Laurens to spot her brother's sign.

"John!" she exclaimed, running towards him and hugging him tight, nearly causing them to fall over but Alexander steadied them. "Oh my god, John! I'm so happy to see you, it's been so long! I've missed you! Did you get taller?" While Mary Laurens was around five foot five, John was close to six foot two. She had to crane her neck up to look at her older brother.

"It's so good to finally see you, Polly." John said, hugging her tightly. Alexander smiled at the two and took note of just how much they looked alike. They both had curly brown hair, beautiful green eyes, and freckles making constellations on their skin. The two could practically be twins. Mary turned her smiling gaze to her brother in law and moved to wrap him in a hug.

"Alexander! I'm so glad to finally see you again. I must say, it feels like I'm meeting you for the first time since your time at our home was so short." Mary laughed and Alexander did as well. "I gotta say, John, you snagged a good looking one." Alexander blushed at her compliment, causing John to laugh.

"I did get lucky, and it wasn't very easy. So many people were after him." John smiled at Alexander. How many people had tried to steal Alex away? Well, there was Lafayette for the first few months, Angelica tried, Eliza had been curious about the idea, and then there was the countless amounts of waiters and waitresses who would write their phone numbers on the receipt for Alexander. At first, it had caused John so much stress to see people try to flirt with Alex, but over time, he became used to it and didn't fear anymore. Alexander was incredibly loyal. He never once called any of the phone numbers left for him, he never flirted with people besides John, and though his eyes sometimes wandered, he never lost sight of the only one who truly held his heart. There was nothing that could be done to make him go astray.

"You're brother is the only one with a key to my heart. I knew from the moment I met him that he was my soul mate." Alexander told her. John immediately rolled his eyes and Mary melted. Alexander looked up at him with a smile. "To be honest, I'm surprised I managed to get someone as stunning as John." John blushed and whacked him with the sign.

"Smooth talker. Are you up to something? Do you want something?" John asked, becoming suspicious.

"I'm just showing your sister how much I love you, _mi querido esposo_." Alexander smiled at him again and John could now see just how nervous Alexander was. He was just doing what he always did when he was in a situation that made him uncomfortable or where he didn't know what the right thing to do was. Alexander talked, used his words to make the situation better. Of course, sometimes his words just made things worse, but it seemed to be working in his favor now. John smiled softly at him and took his hand.

"Let's get out of here and go get you settled, Mary." John said as he took her suitcase with his other hand. Mary grinned at them and followed them out to a taxi. She watched John and Alexander but her bags into the trunk and then share a small sweet kiss. They seemed absolutely perfect for each other and she was so happy for them, but also incredibly sad for them. They faced so much discrimination, and her father, John's own father, would no longer consider him a son. It was so sad… She put on a smile when the men got into the taxi and talked happily as the traveled from the airport back to the Hamilton-Laurens apartment.

When they arrived, John and Alexander knew something was up. There was a car parked nearby that normally wasn't there… A fancy car with leather seats and wood trims. John looked up at the window of their apartment and saw a sign in the window that read "Welcome, Mary" in large, curly letters. John looked back at Alexander.

"Lafayette." they said in unison. If you were to ask the couple what their biggest mistake had been, they would more than likely agree that is was giving Lafayette a key to their apartment. Mary looked between the two in confusion.

"Who is Lafayette?" she asked.

"He's a friend of ours from college. It seems that he's waiting for us in the apartment." Alexander explained. "He's probably decorating every room in there."

"We're going to find confetti in the bathroom, the bedroom, the nursery." John's eyes went wide. "Oh my god, Alex, the nursery. Lafayette is going to see the nursery! He's probably already seen it!"

"Shit, you're right!" Alexander grabbed Mary's bags and ran to the entrance of the building. Mary looked even more confused.

"What's wrong? It's just a nursery."

"Mary, we haven't told anyone but you!" John said.

"You told her?!" Alexander looked at him.

"Yes, how did you think we were able to afford most of that stuff? It sure wasn't from my paycheck. Mary, we haven't told anyone else because we want the adoption to be official before we all get our hopes up." John explained. Mary nodded her head in understanding. She didn't know this Lafayette, but from the way the two men were acting, she was sure that him knowing would not be a good thing. The three hurried up to the apartment and opened the door. As they expected, the apartment was beautifully decorated with balloons and ribbon and confetti. Appetizers sat on the table and something was definitely cooking in the kitchen. As they also expected, Lafayette was standing at the door of the nursery, staring into the room silently. Alexander ushered the other two inside and closed the door before going over to the Frenchman.

"Marie-Joseph…" Alexander said, calling the man by his first name.

"You have a nursery in your apartment…" He said softly in french, still just staring into the room. "A crib… A rocking chair… So many toys… You're going to have a baby…?" he looked down at Alexander, his expression almost one of hurt. "You didn't tell me…" Alexander looked at him with guilt. Lafayette was such a big part of his and John's lives, they told him everything, they did so much with him, he was practically family to them by now. For them to not tell him about them trying to have a baby must have felt like a punch to the gut. Alexander replied to him in French to keep their conversation private.

"We didn't tell you so you didn't get your hopes up… We didn't want to tell anyone before an adoption was official…" he said. "You understand, don't you?"

"Well, is it official…? Are you going to have a baby…?"

"It's not official yet… We haven't gotten an acceptance letter yet…" Alexander looked down. "But we have gotten rejections… Lafayette, we didn't mean for this to hurt you. You know how important you are to us. We love you, okay? Please forgive us… And please, don't tell anyone about this…" He squeezed Lafayette's muscular arm. "Come on, go say hello to John's sister." Lafayette looked up and smiled brightly, hiding his hurt feelings. He went up to Mary and kissed her hand.

"I'm so sorry, you must find me incredibly rude for just standing there and speaking French. My name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette." He flashed her another dazzling smile. Mary giggles.

"C'est un plaisir de vous rencontrer. Je suis Mary Laurens." She said in perfect French. Lafayette stared at her in shock and Alexander's mouth hung open. Their conversation had not been private at all. John just grinned. His sister had studied French since she was young. She had gone to an all girl's school in France for college and was practically fluent.

"My, my, you speak French. This is something our John has forgot to mention." Lafayette looked at John, who bit his lip at the look in his dark eyes. To others it seemed like a normal look, but to those who had been with Lafayette, they knew it meant they were in trouble and would be punished. Lafayette would either be telling Alexander how to punish him, or he would be getting permission from Alexander to do the punishing himself. He looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, well how fun it will be to keep John out of our conversations! Come, come. Sit down and have something to eat. I'll get lunch finished for you and then I have a tour of the city planned out!" Lafayette turned to go into the kitchen, giving John another dark look as he walked past him. John gulped and went to sit beside Alexander at the table. Lafayette served them a light lunch of soup of sandwiches. They sat together at the table and chatted happily, though Lafayette was still a little hurt about not being told of the adoption and John was nervous for his punishment. Mary and John cleaned up the kitchen while Alexander talked more to Lafayette before the group put their coats back on and left to take miss Mary on a tour of their beloved city. As they went from stop to stop, John imagined what it would be like for him and Alexander to take their child around the city, teaching them the history of New York. He imagined them holding the child's hands and walking through the snow, the child giggling as snowflakes landed on their nose. The thought made him feel warm and happy. He took Alexander's hand, leaned on him, and giggled when a snowflake landed on his nose.


	8. Chapter 8

Thanksgiving morning was hectic. John was working on making the mashed potatoes, Alexander was making tamales, and Mary was watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television. She had begged the men to let her help with something, but they refused and told her to just let them know what was happening in the parade. She pouted on the couch, petting the cat and watching the clowns hop around on tv. The food in the kitchen smelled amazing and she wanted to sneak a tamale, but she had been caught trying to do the same thing earlier.

"You'll ruin your appetite!" Alexander scolded her. "You can have some at dinner." Mary had whined but listened to her brother-in-law. It was supposed to be a fantastic dinner though. Alexander was doing tamales, John was doing potatoes, Lafayette was in charge of desserts, Angelica makes the yams, Peggy does macaroni and cheese, Eliza makes fresh bread for rolls, and Hercules was in charge of the turkey, stuffing, and gravy since the dinner would be at his home this year. The thought of all the food was making Mary even hungrier than she already was. Mary groaned and went to join them in the kitchen.

"Jack," she whined. "I'm so hungry… Can I just have a snack?" she looked up at her brother with puppy dog eyes. While John was in his later twenties, Mary was only in her early twenties and was still just a child in John's eyes. John looked down at his sister and, though he tried to be resilient, just could not say no to her and gave her a scoop of the potatoes he had already made. Mary smiled and thanked her brother before she started eating the potatoes. Alexander gave her a look and then gave John the same one.

"I'm not going to save you any tamales if you're too full to have some at dinner. Same goes for you, John. I've seen you sneaking little snacks all morning, you're not sneaky, babe." Alexander said to them.

"What are you going to do, punish me?" John wiggled his eyebrows. Alexander smirked and pulled him close.

"I think I just might have to." he purred.

"Okay, ew." Mary covered her ears. "Ew, ew, gross. I don't want to hear my brother talk about that." John blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, but then started laughing. He pulled away from Alexander and gave his sister a hug.

"I'm sorry, Polly, I'm just really gross." He laughed. Mary laughed a little as well.

"You're my brother, of course you're gross." she replied. "Is there anything I can do to help? Please, I'm feeling useless."

"You could go get our mail, downstairs, I forget to get it this morning. I think yesterday's mail is still there, I might have forgotten to pick it up. Honestly we don't need any help in the kitchen, this is easy stuff." Alex told her. Mary was just happy to be doing something. She took the mailbox key and went downstairs to get the mail. Once the door closed, Alexander grabbed John and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. There wasn't enough time to do anything else right now, but they could at least make out. Alexander parted his lips and allowed John's tongue to slip inside. Their tongues met, circling and prodding. John placed his hands on Alexander's hips and pulled him closer. It was hard to get a minute alone with each other with Mary in the apartment. She was young so she didn't want to go into the city on her own. They couldn't even escape to their bedroom for private time because they had given it to Mary for her stay. The husbands were on an air mattress in the nursery, and that thing was as squeaky as a horde of angry mice, so it was impossible to mess around on there. So for now, they had to be content to just make out in the kitchen, but as soon as the doorknob turned, they had to pull apart and fix their hair. Mary walked into the apartment with a good sized stack of mail. Alexander thanked her and took it, sorting through the envelopes.

"Bill, bill, bill, junk, advertisement, magazine, bill, more junk, junk, junk, bi-" He stopped mid word as he looked closer at the envelope in his hand. "Not a bill… It's from an adoption agency."

"Open it…" John said, coming to look over his shoulder. Alexander was about to, but stopped himself.

"No, let's wait until we're done cooking. Because if it's good news we'll want to celebrate, if it's bad news again we'll want to sulk.. Either way we'll forget about what we still need to make. So let's finish cooking before we open it." He said, putting the letter on the coffee table in the kitchen. It was a good idea and John agreed to it. They continued making the potatoes and tamales, putting them into containers so they could transport them easily to Mulligan's house. Once they had cleaned up the kitchen and washed their hands, they all went to the living room to open the letter. John and Alexander sat together on the couch and Mary took a seat on the armchair. Alexander took a deep breath and opened the letter, discarding the envelope and unfolding the paper slowly.

"Dear Mr. Alexander Hamilton-Laurens and Mr. John Hamilton-Laurens, based on your application, the Spence-Chapin Adoption Services of New York are pleased to inform you that you have been matched to a child. The child is an African-American female and is due to be born in February of the next year and will be ready to bring home a week after birth. Please contact the Spence-Chapin Adoption Services of New York with your decision as soon as possible and thank you for having open hearts."

Alexander slowly put the letter down and looked at John, then Mary, then back at John. All at once, they began to scream. They jumped up and hugged each other, screaming and crying. Finally, finally it had happened. Their dream was coming true after so long. They were going to be parents. John and Alexander pressed their foreheads together. Alexander held John's cheeks and John put his hand on the back of Alexander's neck as they looked into each other's eyes.

"We're going to be parents… We're going to have a little girl." John said, smiling through his tears.

"We're going to have a daughter, a beautiful daughter." Alexander cried. John captured his lips in a salty kiss, wet with their tears. "We can tell everyone tonight at dinner."

"And we'll call tomorrow when the agencies are open again." John added. "Fuck… I'm so happy!" He started crying even harder and Alexander did as well when he saw the large tears staining John's cheeks. Mary was crying as well, though not as hard as the two men were. She was so happy for them, knowing just how much they wanted this. She put her hands on their backs and smiled at them.

"I'm so happy for you, you deserve this." She said. John pulled her into a tight hug. "I love you, John, I'm so proud."

"I love you too, Mary." John smiled and wiped his eyes. "God, I can't wait to tell everyone."

"I have an idea for that." Mary said. "Where do you keep your art supplies?"

It had taken a long time for John and Alexander to compose themselves, but they only had a trace of puffiness in their eyes when Eliza came to pick them up and take them to Mulligan's townhouse just outside the city. Mary sat in the passenger seat, allowing John and Alex to have the backseat to themselves. Eliza and Mary had a very pleasant talk, getting to know each other and sharing stories about John. In the back, John and Alex were holding hands, staring at each other, and imagining what the other would be like as a father, imagining raising a daughter, imagining parenthood. They were so into their fantasies that they didn't even notice that they had arrived at their destination. Eliza smacked Alexander on the arm, drawing him out of his thoughts.

"We're here, Alexander." Eliza said. "What is going on inside that head of yours?" She smiled teasingly and grabbed the rolls she had made. Alex got out and straightened the red sweater he had on over a white t-shirt. John had on a navy sweater and white shirt, but didn't bother to straighten it out before he picked up the containers of potatoes and tamales. Mary waited closed the car door behind her brother and followed them up to the house. Hercules opened the door before they could even knock.

"Hey, come on in!" Hercules said. "How are you guys, I haven't seen you in a few weeks. Eliza, looking lovely. And who is this pretty thing?" He asked, letting Mary into the house. "How you doin'?" Mary giggled and blushed. Eliza raised an eyebrow at him.

"You know, Hercules, I don't think my sister would appreciate you flirting with young Mary Laurens." She said, putting her hands on Mary's shoulders. Color came to his cheeks.

"I-I wasn't flirting." Hercules insisted.

"Herc, if you flirt with my sister again I'm going to have to fight you." John teased, getting in his face. Mulligan's eyes went wide.

"She's your sister?!" He exclaimed. He turned back to her and shook her hand. "Hi, Miss Laurens, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Hercules Mulligan, welcome to my home." Mary giggled and shook his hand, finding him funny.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Mulligan." She had the cutest southern drawl. "Thank you for letting me into your home."

"The pleasure is mine." He said. "There are drinks in the kitchen and some appetizers as well. Everyone is in the living room, we're just waiting for Peggy to get here now."

"She better get here soon, I've been craving macaroni and cheese all day." John said as he headed to the living room. Alexander brought Mary in and Eliza followed. Lafayette and Angelica both got up and greeted them. Angelica introduced herself to Mary and they all talked, waiting for Peggy to arrive. When she did, half an hour later, they all helped to get the food on the table and sat down. Lafayette poured everyone a glass of wine and Hercules stood to give a speech.

"Before I begin, let me honor tradition and thank the man who brought us all together for holidays the first time. Philip Schuyler saw us, the friends of his daughters, with no family or home to go to for holidays. We were orphans, or we were no longer welcome. But through his generosity, we found our new family. Through him we felt the love and joy that we needed, and we must always remember to thank him for giving us this tradition. We may not be related, well, some of us, but we are family. As he said, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. So let's toast to the memory of Philip Schuyler." They all raised their glasses and then took a sip. "Alright, let's dive in!" Hercules served everyone turkey and the food was passed around. John piled his plate up high and was already planning on what he would put on a plate to take home. Everything was delicious. The turkey was juicy, the macaroni and cheese was creamy, the bread was soft, and everything was perfectly seasoned. As they ate, they laughed and shared stories. Mary was more than happy to share embarrassing stories from childhood with John, telling about all the trouble he would get into in their South Carolina home. John would climb the trees around the grounds and usually fell out of them. He had broken plenty of bones growing up and was always covered in bruises and scrapes. Their father would always yell at him for being so reckless, but then again, their father yelled at John for a lot of things.

"Our older sister, Martha, loved to give us makeovers, and John loved getting them." Mary said, taking a bite of yams. "I think sometimes you would just go up and ask for a makeover, right John?" John blushed a bit and nodded, causing his friends to laugh.

"Laugh all you want, I looked pretty." He said, crossing his arms.

"I don't doubt that for a minute." Alex said, giving him a quick kiss. John smiled softly at his husband. Their dinner continued with more stories from everyone and more happy laughter. When everyone had finished, they cleaned off the table, put away leftovers, and started the dishwasher before all going into the living room to watch a movie. The couples cuddled on the couch, Peggy and Eliza sat with Mary on the ground in front of the couch, and Lafayette sat in the armchair, looking over everyone as though he were their protector. Alexander intertwined his fingers with John's, looking at their wedding bands instead of the movie. Sometimes it felt like only a dream, like this beautiful man wasn't actually his. Honestly he didn't understand how he could be so lucky. Alexander was an immigrant, he was abrasive, couldn't keep his mouth shut or his opinions to himself, he was rash. Yet this man, this stunning man, had chose him to spend the rest of his life with. John felt the same way. John knew he could be violent, he got into fights over nothing, he was emotional and didn't think anyone could really love him, but Alexander had changed that thought. They loved each other more than anything, they belonged to each other, nothing could break them apart. Alexander kissed each finger on John's hand. Mary noticed and smiled softly. She couldn't think of anyone more deserving of such love than her brother, and she was glad it was Alexander Hamilton giving that love.

They played board games when the movie ended, breaking out the Candyland and Life games. They played Jenga, Disney Scene-It, Risk, and Battleship. When the night was finally winding down, Alexander decided that it was time. He and John stood up in front of their friends.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, may I have your attention, please?" Alexander started. The others turned to look at them. "As you now, John and I have been married for over two years now. We have our little cat, our baby, but now we are getting ready for something big. We just received a letter this morning about this." He and John unbuttoned their sweaters, dropping them to the floor and revealing t-shirts that read "Daddy to be" on them. Mary smiled while the others just stared at them in a shocked silence, then there was screaming. Lafayette was the first to move. He rushed over and wrapped them both in a tight hug. Alexander and John hugged him back.

"It's official now, Laf." Alexander whispered.

"You're going to be parents…" They could hear the tears in Lafayette's voice. "I'm so happy for you." He pulled away so that the others could come up to them. Angelica and Eliza practically jumped on them.

"You're going to have a baby!" Eliza screamed in excitement. "A baby!"

"Is it through adoption? Or a surrogate?" Angelica asked.

"Adoption." John said. "She'll be born in February and we'll take her home a week after she's born."

"Oh, it's a girl!" Eliza cried. "A little girl! I'm so happy for you!" Hercules came up and wormed his way into the hug.

"I'm going to be the coolest uncle. If you ever need someone to watch her I'll do it." He said. "Congratulations, man." Peggy came up to them next.

"If you send her to our school then I'll be her teacher!" She said excitedly. "Oh, I'm so happy for you! Do you have any names picked out?"

"Actually, we did pick one out." Alexander said. "We're going to name her Rachel Eleanor Hamilton-Laurens, after our mothers." This announcement brought on a whole new chorus of oohs and awws and tears. Everyone was just so happy for the young couple. They were going to be parents, going to be a family. They were going to raise a little girl in a home full of nothing but love, and she would have aunts and uncles who loved her dearly. She would always be cared for, always loved, always safe and warm. She would grow up into a beautiful young woman, carrying with her all the lessons she will have learned from her family, knowing nothing but love. The thought of it made John teat up. Eliza brought him a tissue and gave him a hug. He hugged her back tightly.

"If you ever need anything, John, let me know. I'll do whatever I can to help you both out. If you need a sitter, a ride, someone to just come help around the house, anything. I'm only a call away." She told him. Eliza was incredibly kind and generous, willing to do anything to help her family and friends. John nodded, grateful for her offer. They all talked more about the adoption and how they had already set up a nursery. They talked about how hard it was to be accepted by an agency, the fiasco with the ones that turned them away for being gay, the home inspection, the shopping, making the nursery, and finally the acceptance letter. Everyone listened intently to their story, getting emotional as it was told. John looked at all his friends, at his sister, at his husband, at the shirt he was wearing. He felt warm and happy and satisfied. When they finally got back to their apartment and settled for bed, John cuddled Alexander on the air mattress. He nuzzled him and sighed contently, a smile on his lips.

"You seem really happy." Alexander said with a chuckle. John hummed and nodded.

"This year, being surrounded by friends and family, knowing we're was going to have a little girl, I just have so much to be thankful for."


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you really have to go? I'm going to be so lonely without you." John said, pouting on the bed as Alexander packed his bags. Alexander didn't look up at him, knowing that his husband was making irresistable puppy eyes. He folded a shirt and placed it in the suitcase as he answered.

"I have to go, John. This meeting is so important for the paper."

"But you're just going as Washington's secretary." John said.

"And if all goes well, I may get a promotion." Alexander smiled at him. John continued to pout. The Caribbean sighed and put his suitcase on the ground before getting on the bed and snuggling him. "I wish I could take you with me, I'm going to miss you so much…" He kissed his cheek. John held him close, knowing there was nothing he could do. He could not keep Alexander here, and he could not go with him. John would have to stay home alone with the cat. He at least had one day where he would be teaching, but then the entire weekend would be open, empty. He sighed and figured he would just hang out with Lafayette and Hercules. It wasn't a bad thing, they were his best friends after all, but the fun they would have while together would make John feel worse when he was alone again, the bed cold without his husband there to warm him. Alexander kissed his neck.

"Don't look so sad. If you're sad then I'm sad." Alexander nipped his neck. "I know what will make you happy." He smirked against John's skin and slid down his body, gripping the waistline of John's trousers and pulling them and his boxers down. John propped himself up on his elbows to watch his husband. Alexand took hold of John's flaccid member. He stroked until he was fully erect and six inches long. Alexander himself was just under five inches fully erect. He stroked a few more times, running his thumb across the slit, before slowly licking a trail down from the shift to the base. John groaned at the slow pace Alexander was going.

"I thought you wanted to make me happy, this isn't going to make me happy… Go faster." He practically whined. Alexander let out a low chuckle and took John into his mouth, starting with just a bit of the tip, letting his tongue run around it and across the slit, before lowering his head down and taking the rest of him in, feeling him press against the back of his throat. Alexander sat still for only a moment before he started bobbing his head. He placed on hand on John's hip to give him some support while his other hand held his long hair back. John put his head back down and moaned as Alexander sucked around him. Alexander was incredibly skilled with his mouth, both in arguments and in blowjobs, it was honestly rather impressive. Alexander roused John out of his thoughts as he grabbed his balls and began to massage them, causing John to let out a loud moan. Alexander looked at him with a dark glint in his yes, and John suddenly realized what Alexander was planning to do. He reached under the bed and pulled out their box of toys.

"Don't you dare, I swear to god you better not." John hated this, but couldn't deny that it was also kind of fun. "I'm divorcing you if you put that shit on me." Alexander just chuckled and kissed John passionately as he rolled the cockring onto the base of his dick.

"How else will I be able to fuck you and ride you without you cumming and getting tired? Really, John, you must use that brain of yours." Alexander tapped John's head, speaking in a low voice that made John's skin erupt in goosebumps. "Now, will you behave like a good boy, or do I have to put you in cuffs?" Alexander asked him, pulling out a pair of handcuffs from the box. John shook his head quickly.

"I'll be good, Papi, I swear." John said, looking up at him with those adorable puppy eyes of his. Alexander grinned darkly.

"I'm trusting you to be a good boy for Papi… If you rip that off, if you so much as touch it or yourself, I'm stopping immediately and leaving early. You don't want that, do you?" Alexander asked, running a hand up John's shirt and grazing a nipple. John shuddered and shook his head. "You need to say you understand."

"I understand, Papi, I'll be a good boy." John said. Alexander gave a nod of approval and grabbed a bottle of apple scented lube. He squeezed some onto his fingers and rubbed a little on John's entrance, causing him to shudder at the cold sensation. Alexander pressed his middle finger against his hole, teasing him with the slight pressure. John whined and pushed his hips against Alex's finger. Alex chuckled and quickly thrust his index and middle fingers into his husband. John cried out at the sudden stretching, the stinging pain it caused, but he did not call out his safe word which let Alexander know this was alright. He spread his fingers, scissoring John and stretching him wider. His fingers curled and uncurled inside of his warmth as he searched for his prostate. John arched his back and gripped the sheets when Alexander pressed his fingers against the bundle of nerves.

"Ah… There it is." Alexander smiled and pressed again. John moaned Alexander's name.

"Alexander… Papi… Please…"

"Please what, John?"

"Papi, te necesito dentro de mí. Por favor, me voy a volver loco si no tienes sexo conmigo." John begged. "¡Por favor, entra dentro de mí!" Alexander gave a wide, dark smile.

"That's my good boy." Alexander slipped his pants off and grabbed the lubricant again. He spread some onto his cock and pulled John's hips up so he could get into a good position. Alexander slowly pushed into him, sliding all the way to the base. He stayed there for only a few moments before he began slamming into John, setting a rough pace that he knew John would love. The southerner's warmth seemed to draw him in, and Alexander let go of John's hips. He placed his hands on either side of John and leaned over him, looking into his beautiful green eyes as he pounded into him, his balls slapping against his skin. John's face was flushed, drool dripped from the corner of his mouth. Usually it was John who took charge in the bedroom, but when Alexander did, he filled his lover's world with nothing but pleasure. He knew exactly what his partner wanted. He knew if he should be gentle or be rough. John loved rough, loved the pain, and Alexander took on this dark personality, became Papi, and it made John simply melt. He never questioned why it turned John on so much, but he assumed it was probably due to all of his issues with his father. Alexander shook his head, clearing his mind of those thoughts, and went back to focusing only on pleasuring John. He thrust hard and deep into the heat of him, and buried himself deep inside when he came, spilling his seed into his beloved. John squirmed at the sensation, not used to it the way Alexander was. His lower regions felt incredibly hot and he could feel his dick throbbing, craving the release he knew he could not have yet. It made him whine. Alex slowly pulled out of him and moved over to kneel over John's chest, one knee on each side of him. He held his soft member and looked at John with half lidded eyes. "Clean me up." He ordered. John was more than happy to oblige, hoping that if he did a good job then Alexander would let him cum. But there was no such luck. As soon as John and licked every trace of Alexander's semen and his own taste away and he was erect once more, Alexander moved back to John's dick. He spread some lube on and slowly lowered himself onto him without preparing himself at all. Alexander wanted to feel every inch of John as he was stretched. Tears pricked his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. John moaned and twisted his hands in the sheets. He wanted so badly to thrust up into him, but knew if he did Alexander would leave and he would not have the release he craved. Alexander placed his hands on John's chest and slowly raised his hips, coming back down halfway on John's cock. He raised himself again and went slightly lower, continuing this slow pace until he was going all the way down on his cock. As soon as he was comfortable, Alexander began to bounce harder and faster, his eyes closed and his mouth open slightly. He rolled his hips and moaned John's name as he fucked himself on the man's dick, feeling the cockring every time he came down to the base. John tried to fight his urges, but he finally lost all control and grabbed Alexander's hips, tossing him onto his back and thrusting back inside him, going immediately into a rough pace. Alexander didn't bother scolding him or making good on his promise to leave. Honestly, he had known that John would eventually lose control, it was inevitable, but he was impressed by how well he had lasted this time. So Alexander laid back and let John have his way with him. He pulled out for only a moment to pull off his cockring, wanting desperately to fill Alexander. Alexander moaned as John thrust completely into him again, quickly bringing him to his second climax by pounding mercilessly on his prostate. Alexander cried out John's name as he came between them, the tightening around John sending him into his own built up orgasm. He buried himself deeply, shuddering as his seed spilled into him. The lovers panted and looked at each other lovingly.

"I guess I'm going to need to shower before I leave…" He said with a smile.

Alexander had left late that night, meeting his boss at the airport to board their flight to Washington D.C. His boss, George Washington, was a tall man, muscular with a hard face and thick eyebrows. He was a serious man, running his staff like a great general. Alexander was his right hand man, following Washington's orders closely, except for when he really didn't like them. He was impulsive, but Washington helped keep his impulses in check. They stood in the line to board their flight, making pleasant small talk. As hard as he looked and as tough as he ran his paper, Washington was pleasant and a good friend to Alexander. He asked about John, wanting to know if everything was alright with him, if he was enjoying his teaching job. He asked about the cat, wondering if his cold had gotten better and pleased to hear that he had been cured. He asked about the adoption, knowing it was only a month away now, and as soon as he brought it up, it was nearly impossible for Alexander to stop talking about his family and the little girl they would be bringing into their lives. Washington didn't really mind, he allowed Alexander to talk the entire trip to D.C. It helped distract Hamilton from the fact that his rival, Aaron Burr, was on the same flight, going to the same meeting. Of course, he couldn't be oblivious for long. Alexander spotted Burr while they were exiting the plane.

"Burr is here?" He questioned. Washington nodded.

"He's with Jefferson, they're attending the press meeting as well." He informed Alexander.

"But why? Burr doesn't have any sort of opinion or beliefs about anything! He just sees what anyone with more power than himself thinks and then agrees with them! He's a boot licker just begging for a promotion! He's a sorry excuse for a reporter."

"Enough, Alexander. I didn't invite you here just so you could complain about Mr. Burr." Washington hailed a taxi for them when they left the airport and brought them to the hotel of where the press conference would be held.

"Mr. Hamilton, I didn't think I would see you here." A voice rang out from the entrance of the hotel bar. Alexander frowned when he heard it, slowly turning his barstool to look at man walking up to him.

"Why wouldn't I be here, Mr. Burr? It is a press conference." He said, taking a drink of his rum. "I am part of the press."

"I know that, Mr. Hamilton. What I'm saying is that I didn't think I would see you in a bar." Aaron Burr took a seat at the bar stool next to him. "You're running low there, can I buy you a drink?"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Just to show you I have no hostility towards you. We're all here for the same reason, can't we try to get along for one weekend? What are you drinking? Another round of rum over here!" Burr grinned and looked back at the suspicious Alexander. "So, how is your husband doing? What's his name again? James? Jack?"

"John. His name is John." Alexander said. He was suspicious of Burr, but couldn't figure out what he could possibly be planning or trying to do. He took the new glass of rum and drank it quickly. "And he is doing fine. Our three year anniversary is in the summer."

"Well congratulations on that, Mr. Hamilton." Burr smiled.

"What do you want, Burr?" Alexander questioned. Burr sighed.

"Alright, the real reason I'm down here is because I heard a rumor and I wanted to know if it was true. Are you adopting a baby?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't really care, but I'm just curious. I'm going to be a father soon as well, my wife is pregnant, due in the fall." He smiled. Alexander blinked and grinned a little bit.

"Well then I must congratulate you, Aaron Burr, sir." Alexander said. "That's exciting. And, uh, yes. It's true, John and I are adopting a baby in February. It's a little girl."

"Congratulations, Alexander. Let's toast to this." Burr ordered more drinks. "To parenthood!" He raised his glass.

"To parenthood!" Alexander responded, raising his own glass. He downed the third glass of rum. As they talked, Burr ordered more drinks, though he never finished his. Alexander's mind was becoming foggy the more he drank. He slurred his words and swayed in the bar stool as he spoke to Burr. "Ya know, Burr… I-I-I think you're a… a bastard." he said. Aaron, only the slightest bit tipsy grinned at him.

"Oh really? Well, I'm sure your husband likes me. How can he love a biased immigrant like you, Alexander? You're work is nothing but opinion, the wrong opinion. You're too violent, to angry, too wrong. Why, I don't know if you're fit to be a father." He smirked, provoking the drunk man. Alexander leaned forward to try to hit him, but he lost his balance and fell from his barstool. Aaron knelt down to help him up, extending his hand to Alexander, who in turn got onto his knees and threw a punch. A bright flash blinded him momentarily as his fist collided with Aaron's jaw.

"Got it, let's get out of here, Burr." James Madison stood from his seat in a corner booth, lowering his camera and walking towards Burr. Aaron stood and sent another smirk at Alexander.

"I finally have a story that will blow your story out of the water." He said before leaving the bar with Madison. Alexander, too drunk to really be able to process what happened, was picked up by the bartender and thrown out into the lobby. He stumbled his way through the hotel, falling here and there, vomiting into plants and in the elevator, creating a public spectacle. After nearly an hour of wandering, he finally found his room. He passed out on the floor, completely unaware of what Aaron Burr was up to.


	10. Chapter 10

Saturday morning's paper sat on the table in front of Lafayette. He stared at it, his eyes wide and mouth open slightly. There, on the front page, was a photograph of Alexander, on the floor of a bar, punching Aaron Burr square in the jaw. The accompanying article, written by Burr, slammed Alexander for his violence. He claimed that he was unfit as a journalist, a partner, and definitely unfit to be a parent. Lafayette shredded the paper and grabbed his phone, quickly calling up Eliza.

"I just read it." She said when she answered. "This can't be right, Alexander never gets that drunk on his own accord, and he isn't violent."

"I believe Burr was behind this. He planned this somehow." Lafayette clenched his fist. "Get your sisters and get into the city, buy as many newspapers as you can. I'll get Hercules as well."

"Lafayette, the story will be online too, there's no way we can stop it from spreading…"

"We can do what we can. Head out to the city, I'll bring Hercules. Get those papers." Lafayette hung up and grabbed his jacket.

Alexander woke up to the pounding in his head, matched by the pounding on the hotel room door. He groaned in pain and slowly got off the floor, walking over to the door. He opened it to find a red faced George Washington, absolutely fuming with anger. He held up the newspaper.

"What the hell is this? What the hell did you do? How did they publish this so fast, Alexander?" George demanded. Alexander took the newspaper and looked at the picture and read through the article.

"Alexander Hamilton, a Caribbean immigrant and writer for The New York Times was spotted drinking at a hotel bar in Washington D.C. When this reporter walked in, due to a complaint that was heard, I witnessed the intoxicated man fall from his seat. As I tried to help Mr. Hamilton, he became extremely violent, lashing out and striking me multiple times. He cried out crude and racist remarks, and I began to fear for his own safety as well as the safety of his husband. Alexander Hamilton is married to one Mr. John Laurens, a man who I have seen try to hide bruises many times. I cannot help but fear that Mr. Hamilton has been beating his husband, and if he beats his husband, who is to say he will not beat the child they are adopting. Is this really a man one would want an infant to go to, a violent drunk? Is this really a man we can trust as a reporter?" The article continued on, claiming that he was a menace and how his family and friends were afraid of him. Alexander was shocked. How could Aaron Burr just lie like that?!

He couldn't remember much from last night, not after Burr had bought him more drinks, just drink after drink, but he knew this could not be true! Just drink after drink. That asshole, he had gotten him drunk to set him up. He was trying to tear down the competition.

"Sir! I was just having one drink when Burr came in! He's the one that ordered more!" Alexander said. "I am innocent of any crime!"

"No you are not, Hamilton. You may not have ordered more, but you drank what Burr ordered. You drank it, you got drunk, you attacked, you are at fault. Unless you can somehow find proof that Mr. Burr had planned this event, you are held accountable for your actions, and your actions reflect on me." Washington looked at the disgruntled man, his hair half in and half out of his ponytail, stubble spreading where his beard was trimmed, his suit disheveled and messy. Washington just shook his head. "I can't have your actions reflect on me right now. This meeting is much too important. I have Mr. Reynolds flying in as we speak." He handed Alexander a plane ticket.

"Sir… No… You can't send me back…" Alexander said, looking up at the taller man. George put the ticket into his hand.

"Go home, Alexander. I don't need you here. We will discuss our next course of action when I return on Monday." Washington took his press badge and left him alone with his thoughts. Alexander closed the door and slid to the floor, tears starting to slip down his cheeks. He knew he had messed up, he had messed up big time, but it wasn't fair! Burr had set him up, Burr had planned this all! Alexander just had no way to prove it, and of course Burr wouldn't admit to it. There was nothing he could do… This story would spread and his reputation as a reliable reporter would go down the drain. His friends would see it, John's family would probably see it, John would see it… Fuck… John… He didn't want John to see that… He didn't want anyone to see that. He didn't want to be seen. Alexander cried on the hotel room floor for a good long while before getting up and opening his suitcase. He desperately needed to shower and brush his teeth before getting dressed and heading to the airport. He wore jeans and a dark gray hoodie. He tucked his hair up in a hat and put sunglasses on. Alexander grabbed his suitcase and headed down to the front desk. Aaron Burr passed him along the way.

"Mr. Hamilton!" He greeted loudly, for all the hear. "You gave me quite a bruising last night, but I hope you feel better." To others, his smile looked genuine, but Alexander and Burr both knew there was malice.

"Fuck off, Burr." Alexander growled. "You are a pathetic excuse for a reporter. What are you expecting to happen here? You want me to quit? You want to get me fired? Do you expect that as soon as I'm out of there Washington is going to come running to you and beg you to take my place? You are a bigger idiot than I thought if that's what you think. I used to look up to you. When I first joined this field I wanted nothing more than to be like you, but now I see you for who you really are. You are fucking scum, Mr. Burr." Alexander turned away from him and went to check out of his room. He was fuming with anger, but after that article, he could not let any sign of anger show. He had to remain calm through the drive to the airport, through the flight home, and through the drive back to his apartment.

When Alexander walked in, he found John sitting on the couch, Eliza and Lafayette on either side of him. John's eyes were red and puffy, his cheeks glistened where tears had been running down them. Eliza's own eyes were red, she had been crying as well. On the table sat the newspaper and an open letter. Eliza and Lafayette looked up at him and frowned.

'We're going to go, John. Your husband is here." Eliza said softly.

"Remember, if you need anything, call or text us immediately." Lafayette added. The two grabbed their jackets and didn't look back at Alexander as they left the apartment. Alexander's heart hurt. He went and sat in the armchair near John.

"John… Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Does it fucking look like I'm alright?" He asked, glaring at Alexander. He held up the newspaper. "What the hell did you do? You got shitfaced and fucking beat Burr up?!"

"I didn't beat him up! I punched him once, I think… I don't remember, but I know I didn't beat that bastard up!" Alexander replied.

"Now people think you beat me! I got calls from the other teachers in my school, I got calls from Mary, I got calls from so many people asking to know if I'm okay, asking if they should call the police! I had to try and convince everyone that my husband doesn't beat me he's just a fucking idiot!" John had started crying again as he shouted. "I thought you were smarter than this, Alexander! I don't give a shit if Burr set you up! Without proof nobody else will believe that!"

"But John, he did set me up! He knew exactly what he was doing!" Alexander insisted.

"I know that! I know it was set up! Lafayette knows that! Eliza knows that! Peggy, Angelica, and Hercules all know that!"

"Then why are you so upset?!"

"Because of this!" John held up the letter. "You ruined it! You ruined everything!" He threw the paper at Alexander. Alexander picked it up and read it to himself slowly.

"Dear Mr. Alexander Hamilton-Laurens and Mr. John Hamilton-Laurens, a recent newspaper article has been brought to our attention concerning the violence of Mr. Alexander Hamilton-Laurens. We can no longer accept the planned adoption and we have revoked your application from our systems. The mother of the child agrees with our decision to remove you and the child will be placed in foster care until a new match is created. We felt the need to send this information as soon as possible, and hope you understand the choices made. We hope you seek recovery help and are able to complete your family in the future. Sincerely, The Spence-Chapin Adoption Services of New York."

Alexander read the letter over and over again. This couldn't be real.. There was no way this was real. This was a joke, a cruel joke. Or was this a dream, a nightmare? It had to be one of those, this couldn't be reality. He couldn't have cost them their child, their baby girl, their Rachel Eleanor Hamilton-Laurens. It couldn't be happening!

Alexander felt the tears running down his cheeks. He dropped the letter and covered his face with his hands, sobbing hard. He had ruined it. He had ruined their family. They weren't going to have a baby, he might lose his job. What were they going to do if that happened? How would they pay their bills with just John's teaching paycheck? Where would they go if they were evicted? There were so many unknowns and Alexander only cried harder.

John didn't look at him. "I'm sleeping on the mattress in the nursery tonight." He stood up and walked to the nursery, slamming the door shut behind him. He looked around at the room, all ready for a little baby, and started sobbing again. He grabbed a baby blanket and held it in his hand as he laid back on the mattress and cried. Tonight, there was no laughter, no jokes, no love, nothing but sorrow and heartbreak and tears in that apartment.

The next two months were rough. Though they gotten over their rage, their was still so much pain between Alexander and John. They hurt all throughout February, knowing the baby was being born and not coming home with them. They tried to go out for a nice Valentine's date but it only ended in tears. John had started teacher History to the elementary students as well as art, needing to pick up more hours now that Alexander was on a temporary leave by Washington's orders. Mr. James Reynolds had taken his position for now. The couple tried to remain strong, and it did get better as summer came. The weather warmed and so did they. They went out with friends again, Alexander managed to get his job back once he had been made to go to Alcoholic's Anonymous, also by Washington's orders. On one warm day, Lafayette and Hercules decided to take them out to the city to see a matinee and have a nice lunch, feeling that they really needed to have a nice day.

"How did you even get tickets to Into The Woods?" John asked as they drove to Times Square.

"I have a season pass, I get early access to tickets." Lafayette told him.

"Why didn't the girls come along?" Alexander questioned as they parked the car.

"Eliza had to go to the lady doctor today, Angelica and Peggy decided to go with her." Hercules told them. "Come on, let's go get to our seats." They walked up the steps into the theater and searched for their seats.

Farther uptown, the Schuyler sisters were sitting in the examination room, waiting for the doctor to come in. Eliza had nervous butterflies in her stomach as she sat on the table. Angelica was reading a Southern Cooking magazine and Peggy was playing games on her phone. The eldest sister looked at Eliza and set her magazine on her lap.

"You remembered to check and make sure all the paperwork was correct and accepted, right?" Angelica asked. Eliza nodded, she had checked and double checked and triple checked to make sure all the paperwork she filled out had been correct and had gotten approved. "You've been taking care of yourself, right? Taking plenty of vitamins and eating healthy? Your periods are regular? No pains? Eliza confirmed all of this.

"Then you'll be fine, Betsy." Peggy said, looking up from her phone. "There's nothing to worry about."

"But what if they find something wrong? What if this won't work out after all?" Eliza said nervously.

"Then we don't even mention it to the others. There's a reason why we've been lying about this. We don't want anyone getting their hopes up. If it is bad news, we don't say a word. If it's good news, we can tell everyone." Angelica smiled reassuringly at her sister and reached over to give her hand a squeeze. The doctor came in then and smiled at the sisters.

"How are we all doing today?" She asked. "Are you Eliza Schuyler?"

"Yes I am, hello." Eliza shook her hand.

"Alright, Eliza, let me explain what we're going to be doing here. We are going to be doing a regular physical, a vaginal ultrasound,a pap smear, and hysteroscopy. And you are sure you want to do this all today?" The doctor asked. Eliza nodded.

"Yes, I want to get this done as soon as possible." She laughed softly, trying to hide how nervous she was. The doctor gave a comforting smile.

"You'll do fine. I'll explain everything as I'm doing it." She said to her. "Let's start with the physical." The doctor listened to her breathing and checked her balance and spine, making sure everything was alright. Next was the pap smear. Eliza's legs rested on the holster and the doctor got to work with that quickly. The vaginal ultrasound was next, and that made Eliza twitch uncomfortably. A probe was inserted into Eliza's vagina, enabling the technician to look at her uterus for polyps, scar tissue and lining thickness.

"Everything looks good here." The doctor said in approval. Peggy nearly gagged and Angelica just kept staring at her magazine. This looked so terribly uncomfortable, but Eliza wanted desperately to do this. The hysteroscopy was next. A small camera was inserted into the vagina so the doctor could examine the uterus cavity and check for any sort of abnormalities.

"Alright, everything is perfectly normal, Miss Schuyler." the doctor said as she sat back, removing the camera. Eliza sat up and tried to get rid of the uncomfortable expression on her face.

"Really? Everything is fine? I was so worried that you would find something horribly wrong with me!" She confessed to the doctor. Her sisters giggled and the doctor grinned.

"Nothing horribly wrong here, Miss Schuyler. You are in a perfect condition to be a surrogate. When you are ready for the transfer, you just need to call the office and we'll set up an appointment for you and the parents. Then we'll go over all the pills and injections you'll need to ensure the pregnancy goes as smoothly as possible." The doctor smiled sweetly at her and threw away her rubber gloves. "Congratulations, Miss Schuyler."

Once they had finished up in the office, gotten Eliza dressed again, paid their copay and left, they began to cheer. They screamed and hugged each other and bounced in joy and excitement out on the sidewalk in front of the doctor's office. Eliza could do it! Eliza could be a surrogate! She could give Alexander and John their baby! They still had a shot at being parents!


	11. Chapter 11

The idea of being a surrogate mother both excited Eliza and terrified her. On the one hand, she was so honored to be helping her dear friends become parents, but on the other, pregnancy was this unknown thing, something she honestly did not know much about. Of course, she knew the basics: Weight gain, craving, immense pain, but besides that she knew practically nothing. She could not tell you exactly what or why things were happening, she had never really bothered learning. Eliza was always worrying about the pregnancy. Would everything go smoothly? Would the baby be healthy? The one problem with her constant worrying was that she was not pregnant yet, she had not even told Alexander and John about being a surrogate. Not only that, but they still would need an egg donor. Eliza whined from where she lay on the couch, causing Angelica to look up from her book.

"Are you still worrying about being a surrogate?" Angelica asked her.

"Yes…" Eliza said sadly.

"Eliza, you're going to be fine, there's no reason to panic."

"But, Angelica-"

"No, Eliza. Don't worry about pregnancy when you are not even pregnant yet." Angelica said. She set the book beside her pulled Eliza into a sitting position. "If you worry now then you'll get apprehensive and scared about doing the implant. You can't let that worry sink in." Angelica looked at her and squeezed her hands, giving a reassuring smile. Eliza sighed and looked down.

"Alright, I'll try my best not to worry so much." She told her older sister. Angelica nodded and picked her book up again.

"You still have to tell them." Angelica pointed out. "Are you going to just tell them or surprise them?"

"Oh, I think just telling them will be surprising enough." Eliza said. She twiddled her thumbs, thinking about how her friends would react to the news. She could easily imagine Alexander cheering loudly and John breaking down and crying. John had always been so emotional. He cried when upset, when happy, when frustrated, when angry. Alexander found it cute, but John hated it.

"Well, hopefully they will be surprised when you tell them." Angelica commented. The middle sister furrowed her brows.

"Why wouldn't they be?" she asked. The younger sister gave her a look as if the answer should be obvious. Eliza thought for a moment and then nodded, her eyes widening a bit. "John works with Peggy." Peggy, the precious older sister, was not the best when it came to keeping secrets, and it was a struggle for her to keep her mouth shut around John. She tended to chew on her lip when she was around him, feeling that if she tried to speak, the secrets would come flowing out. Peggy avoided him as much as she could, but she knew she would have to face him eventually. It was easy for most of the day since they were both teaching various classes, and when John came him for his art class with her students, she could just leave. Lunch was when she knew she would have to face him. They always ate their lunch together and John would be suspicious if she did not sit with him, so she had no real choice but to be with him. Peggy waited for him outside the eighth grade classroom. She could hear him inside, talking animatedly about the civil rights movement. John's joy and passion excited the students, making them eager to learn. They gave Mr. Laurens their undivided attention and it amazed the other teachers. No other teacher could captivate the students like John could, they all loved him. He helped the students express themselves and did not silence them. He spoke to them honestly and told them about himself, showing that he faced a lot of hardships that some of them may have faced. He showed them that he was a human who made mistakes and had bad things happen to him too. Right now, he was sitting on top of his desk, talking about how to deal with discrimination and how even though he gave good advice, he never followed it himself.

"I was in a Target store with my husband a year ago a-" He started, but the chorus of his students yelling questions stopped him.

"Mr. L, you have a husband?!"  
"You're gay?!"

"You didn't figure that out?" John laughed. "Come on, guys, I thought you were smarter than this. Anyway-"

"What's his name?"

"Is he older than you?"

"Did you meet at a gay bar?"

"Is he cute?"

John laughed more and answered their questions. "His name is Alexander, he's only a year older than I am. We met in college, a roommate introduced us. Yes, he is very handsome. Now will you let me go on with my story?" But the curious students would not let him continue his tale. They fired question after question and John could only answer a few before the bell rang. "Alright, time for lunch. Class dismissed." The students gathered their books and said goodbye to their teacher. As the last student walked out of the classroom, Peggy walked in. John got off his desk and took his lunch bag from one of the drawers. Peggy pulled a chair up to the side of his desk and opened up her lunch.

"You're really great with the older kids." Peggy said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "I don't know why you fought against doing this so much." John shrugged.

"I love working with young kids. They're adorable and sweet, but I've started to really enjoy working with the older kids. They've been thinking about transferring me over to the high school." John told her. He looked at the lunch Alexander had packed for him. There was a spicy pasta, Homemade chips, John's favorite yogurt, a soda, and a little note. He unfolded the letter and immediately smiled.

"Forever in my heart, always on my mind. I am surrounded by nothing but my love for you, John Laurens. I am not wealthy in money, but I am wealthy in the pride of calling you my husband. My heart is eternally yours. Love your dearest, ."

"You're blushing a lot, what did he say?" Peggy asked him. John handed her the note and touched his face, feeling how warm in was. He had not realized he was blushing. It didn't matter how long they had been together or how many letters Alexander wrote to him, it made him blush every single time, made butterflies flutter in his stomach. John loved his husband so much, no matter how many idiotic things the man did when he was annoyed. Peggy smiled and handed the note back to John. "He's so sweet." John took the letter and put it in a folder with a stack of other letters already inside. John saved every single letter that Alexander wrote him. He just couldn't even imagine throwing away such beautiful words. Alexander's love for John was immense and he took every opportunity to show it. John wondered how he had ended up with Alexander belonging to him. Lafayette could have easily snatched him up, Eliza could have done the same, but somehow it was he who had stolen the immigrant's heart. Peggy looked at him with a soft smile. If anyone deserved to be a father, it was John. Oh, Peggy wanted so badly to tell John about Eliza. She knew that John thought it was all over, that there was no hope of ever having a baby. She wanted to bring that light back to his world, wanted to see him smile. Peggy wanted nothing more than to see John happy and smiling. Well, perhaps she did want more, but it was an impossible dream. Peggy had a terrible crush on the man, and it made her feel awful. John was a homosexual, not only that, he was married. Peggy had been trying to move one, but she still fantasized. Everytime she looked at his freckle kissed face, when she looked into those stunning green eyes, she was drawn right back in. Why did he have to be so handsome and sweet? Peggy shook the thoughts from her mind and smiled at John.

"You said they may transfer you to the high school?" She asked, changing the topic. "Would you still come to teach the little ones art?"

"I have no idea, honestly, but I've been thinking about taking the offer." John informed her. Peggy gave a sad sigh.

"I'll really miss you if you go, but I think teaching high school would suit you. So if you transfer, I'll support you one hundred percent." She smiled and John smiled in return.

"Thanks, Peggy. I can always count on you."

Downtown, Hercules was dragging Lafayette and Alexander to a Kay Jewelers location, though he had not told either of them why, though he seemed incredibly excited. Hamilton looked around at the cases of jewelry that he could never dream of affording, looking at the sparkles and the beautiful colored diamonds. Lafayette followed a few steps behind Hercules, hands behind his back.

"Hercules, my friend, what exactly are we doing here?" Lafayette asked. "You still have not told us."

"Angelica's birthday isn't coming for another three months." Alexander said. "You aren't getting her a gift already, are you?" Hercules shook his head.

"This isn't something for her birthday, this is much bigger than that." He turned to smile at his friends. "I'm going to propose to her." Lafayette's and Hamilton's eyes widened and they clapped him on the back, congratulating him, smiled coming to their faces.

"Congratulations, mon amie." Lafayette said. "You deserve to call her your wife."

"When are you proposing?" Alexander asked.

"Tonight." Hercules said, which caused the others to gasp. "I know, I know, I shouldn't have waited this long to find a ring, but I really needed some help and I had to wait for you both to be free." The others couldn't help but laugh. This was such a Hercules thing to do. But they couldn't be happier for their friend. Lafayette and Hercules helped him pick out the perfect ring, a beautiful diamond ring with a white gold band. He paid for the ring and smiled. This was really going to happen. He would hopefully be the second couple in their friend group to get married, Angelica just had to say yes. He started to worry. What if Angelica said no? What if she laughed at him and left him? What would he do without her? Alexander saw the worry on his face and he gave his shoulder a squeeze.

"What are you so worried about? There's no chance she will say no. She loves you, Hercules." Alexander said. Lafayette nodded his head.

"You two were meant to be with each other." He said. "She's going to say yes, you will be married, and she will be Mrs. Angelica Mulligan. Besides, if Alexander can get married, then there's hope for the rest of us." He and Hercules laughed and Alexander faked offense. Even though it was meant as a joke, it was honestly a little surprising. To say that Alexander was obsessed with his work would be an understatement. He was always writing. He wrote during lectures at school, he wrote during meals, he wrote during parties, he wrote on dates. Alexander kept a small notepad and pen in his pockets at all times, and many people thought him crazy. Many potential partners had been chased away by that obsession, that passion. Lafayette had not been able to stand it after one dinner date too many of being ignored while Alexander wrote furiously. Eliza did not last nearly as long as Lafayette. It was John who remained by his side. John let Alexander write to his heart's content. He never made him stop, never threatened to leave if he would not put the damn pencil down and have a conversation. John wasn't going to stop Alexander from doing what made him, well, Alexander. That passion had gotten him a job with the New York Times, it had helped shed light on important situations, it had made John fall for him. Those hands, that mind, had written hundreds of articles, thousands of letters, who else but Alexander could do that? And over time, Alexander had become able to put down his pencil and just be with people, just be with his husband, but that passion still burned. Alexander knew he was lucky to have John in his life, and he loved him so dearly.

When Alexander returned home in the late afternoon, he closed the door behind him and pressed his lips to John's in a loving kiss. John kissed back and hummed. What a nice greeting this was. John pulled back and smiled at him.

"Did you have a good day?" He asked. Alexander wrapped his arms around the taller man and rested his head on his chest, nodding.

"I love you so much, thank you for putting up with me." Alexander said. John blinked.

"Putting up with you? Do you think I'm just putting up with you? Alexander, I love you." He said.

"No, no. I don't think you're just putting up with me, but I mean, I _am_ annoying…" Alexander said. John looked down at him.

"What's bringing this up?" he asked.

"Hercules is proposing to Angelica and is worried she'll say no. It made me think about how nobody but you could stand to be with me forever." He replied. John smiled and hugged him tight.

"I'm here because you are my world, Alexander. I love you so much and I don't care that you write like you need it to survive. That's just what makes you you." John thought back on what Alexander had said. "Hercules is proposing to Angie? When?"

"Tonight, Lafayette and I went to help pick out the engagement ring." Alexander told him.

"Does Eliza know?"

"Hercules says nobody else knows."

"Then I'll keep my mouth shut when Eliza comes over tonight." John said.

"Eliza's coming over?"

"Yeah, she said she wanted to hang out tonight so I invited her over for dinner. I'm making fried chicken and my famous cornbread." John grinned.

"Honey, your famous cornbread is a boxed mix." Alexander said, a smile coming to his face.

"Hush or you aren't getting any."

The two worked together to make the dinner. Alexander breaded the chicken and browned it on the stove before putting it in the oven, John worked on the cornbread and made green beans while Alexander made potatoes. The kitchen smelled fantastic when Eliza arrived. The three sat down to eat their meal and they talked and laughed and planned a little getaway for the upcoming summer. Once the meal was done and the dishes were cleaned, they retreated to the living room to watch a movie. Before they put they DVD in, Eliza cleared her throat. Alexander and John looked over at her.

"Come sit." She told them. The two men sat on the couch and Eliza perched on the edge of the coffee table. "I have something to tell you. I went to the doctor a few days ago, to get some things tested. Everything came back clear and, well, I'm in perfect condition to be a surrogate for you." She looked at her two friends, both of whom were just staring at her, as if they had not understood what she had said.

"W-What…?" Alexander finally whispered. Eliza smiled sweetly.

"Alex, if you find an egg donor and one of you supply the sperm, they can implant the fertilized egg inside me and I can carry your baby." Eliza took their hands. "I can carry your baby, Alex. You can still be parents." The men both stared at her for another minute in silence before yanking her onto the couch between them, hugging her tight and crying with joy. John's shoulders shook as he sobbed and Alexander whispered words of thanks to Eliza, who could only smile.

"Come on, boys, there's no need to be like this. Wipe those tears, we have work to do." Eliza adjusted herself so she was sitting comfortably between them. "You need to find an egg donor. Do you have anyone in mind?" Alexander and John looked at each other and nodded.

"We have someone in mind."

Across the city, Angelica and Hercules walked hand in hand through central park. The sun was setting, painting the sky with beautiful oranges, pinks, and reds. Angelica loved the sunset, she found it beautiful. Hercules stared at his girlfriend instead of the sky, finding her much more beautiful. He stopped in front of a fountain, making Angelica turn to look back at him. "Why did you stop?" she asked him.

"I just wanted to tell you how beautiful you look tonight." Hercules said, a soft smile gracing his lips. Angelica blushed.

"You've said that a few times, actually." she said.

"Well I mean it. You're beautiful, and a genious, and passionate. You amaze me every time I'm with you. I want to feel that amazement everyday for the rest of my life." He got down on one knee and took a small box out of his pocket. Angelica gasped and covered her mouth.

"No! Hercules oh my god!" Angelica exclaimed.

"Angelica Schuyler, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" He opened the box, revealing the beautiful ring that he and his friends had picked out earlier that same day. Angelica started crying and nodded her head, unable to speak through her tears, hands still covering her mouth. Hercules stood and took her hand, slipping the ring onto her finger. Angelica wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her soft lips against his slightly chapped ones in a loving kiss. Hercules wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed back. Angelica, his beautiful love, his fiance, he loved her so much more than words could describe, and Angelica felt the exact same way.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

The days that followed were filled with excitement. Angelica showed off the ring that Hercules had gotten for her and the Hamilton-Laurens couple were doing research on egg donors. They sat at the kitchen table, staring intently at the laptop as they scrolled through an article about what to look for when getting an egg donor. After reading that article, John felt that he knew exactly who he wanted to be their donor. He placed his hand over top Alexander's to stop him from clicking on another article. Alexander looked at him and John just looked back with a grin.

"What?" the immigrant asked.

"I know how we should do this." He replied. Alexander raised an eyebrow and John continued. "You should supply the sperm, that way we get genes from your side of the family. The egg donor can be Mary, that way we get my family genes!" John looked at him with an excited expression, waiting for Alexander's reaction. Alexander stared at him for a moment, blinking slowly. John could practically see the gears spinning in his husband's head, working out the possible outcomes. He met John's green gaze and smiled slowly. He nodded his head and grasped John's hand, entwining their fingers.

"John, you're brilliant." Alexander praised, kissing his knuckles and causing his husband to blush. "Why don't we give her a call?" John nodded and grabbed his cellphone, excited dialing his sister's number. He left a message to call him back when she didn't answer.

"Well, hopefully she'll call us back soon… Alexander, what are you doing?" John asked as Alexander slid out of his chair to rest on his knees between John's legs. Alexander smiled mischievously up at him.

"I'm celebrating." he said as he unzipped John's pants. John sat back in his chair, planning on enjoying this celebration. Alex took John's cock from his boxers and let his fingers teasingly dance over the flesh, not touching, not yet. He wanted to wait and see John's annoyance grow, wanted to get John to snap. It only took a minute. Once Alexander's middle finger ghosted over his slit, John let out a growl and grabbed Alexander's hand, placing it on his cock and making him stroke. Alexander let out a low chuckle, loving when John was annoyed and rough. It really turned him on. Alex pumped his hand up and down, tightening as he went to the base and loosening as he went back up to the tip. He opened his mouth to speak, but John butted in before he could even get a sound out.

"If that pretty mouth of yours is just going to talk and isn't going to suck me off, then you need to close it immediately." He growled. Alexander smirked up at him.

"And what are you going to do about it if I keep talking?" He asked smugly. John grabbed his face with one hand, and squeezed to keep Alexander from closing his mouth. He pulled his face to his crotch and thrust up into the warmth of Alex's wet mouth. Alexander closed his eyes and hummed as John filled his mouth. John let go of him and leaned back again, letting Alexander work his magic. Hamilton pressed his tongue against John's warm length and licked him all around. He bobbed his head and swallowed around him, bringing John as much pleasure as he could. Alexander's blowjobs were nothing short of magical. He had an amazing mouth that delivered both brilliant debates and brilliant head. He looked up at John with big brown eyes, and John bit his lip and moaned as he met his gaze. Fuck, he was so cute even at a time like this. With another particularly hard suck, John came into Alexander's mouth, the salty essence sliding down Alexander's throat. Hamilton swallowed every drop and licked John's cock clean before putting him back in his pants and zipping them up. He wiped the corners of his mouth and smiled at his husband. John grabbed him and pulled him to a sitting position on his lap. He wrapped his arms around Alexander and held him close. Alexander chuckled and hugged him.

"Was that a nice celebration?" Alexander asked. John nodded.

"It was very nice, and now we have to wait for Mary to call back." he said. They moved to cuddle on their bed, wrapping around each other in a tangled mess of limbs. They lay there in a comfortable silence. Alexander eventually drifted off to sleep, and John watched him for awhile before started to nod off himself. However, the vibration from his cell phone woke him up. He took it out of his pocket, trying hard not the wake Alexander. "Hello?" he asked softly as he answered

"John? It's Mary. Why are you whispering?" His sister asked.

"Ah, Alexander is sleeping right beside me. I don't want to wake him up."

"So what did you call me about?"

"Well, first of all, don't start screaming. I don't want Alexander to wake up."

"Okay…?"

"Do you remember Eliza? She offered to be a surrogate mother for us. Yes, ye- don't scream!" John cut her off when he heard his sister take in that big breath. Alexander is going to donate the sperm. No, we still need an egg donor. Well that's why I called you. Would be opposed to donated an egg to us? That way we have genes from both sides of the family present." he waited anxiously for her reply. There was silence for what felt like minutes but was only mere seconds.

"Are you serious?" Mary asked. "You want me to be the donor? Really?"

"Yes, we really do. I couldn't think of anyone I would rather have as our donor." John told her sincerely. He could hear sniffles on the other end of the phone. "Are you crying?"

"N-No, I'm just… I-I… Of course I'm crying, John. Oh my god, I can't believe you really want me to be the donor! Of course I'll do it! Of course!" John closed his eyes and sighed in relief.

"Thank you so much, Mary. I can't even begin to tell you how thankful I am."

"I would do anything for you, John."

The two remained on the phone for another fifteen minutes to discuss what Mary was going to have to do to donate her egg and when she would fly up to them. Once everything was planned, they said goodbye and ended the call. John wanted to wake Alexander up right then and tell him the good news, but he waited, wanting to let Alex get the rest he so desperately needed. So while he slept, John thought about how lucky he was to have a sister like Mary. She always supported him and stayed loyal. She never judged him or pushed him away. They could always count on each other, always were there for each other to bring comfort or cheer. They were best friends, and John couldn't imagine life without her.

Alexander woke up a few hours later. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, and yawned. "What time is it?"

"It's almost time for dinner." John said. He had gotten up to take a shower and was know drying his curly locks at the end of the bed, a towel around his waist. "What do you want to eat? Want me to make chili? Or do you want to order Chinese? We could always go out to have a celebratory dinner." Alexander blinked at him in confusion.

"Celebratory?"

"Yeah, Mary agreed to donate an egg." He said this casually, but he had a smile on his face as he watched his Hamilton work out what he just said in his sleepy head. It took him a little longer than normal to put everything together, taking about a minute when he usually just need a few seconds. Alexander's eyes widened and he snatched John's phone from the bedside table, dialing his sister-in-law's number and practically bouncing with anticipation. John chuckled and combed his hair.

"Mary!" Alexander exclaimed when she answered the phone. "Did you agree to donate an egg?"

"Yes, why?" Mary asked. "Didn't John tell you? He asked me hours ago." Alexander looked over at John, who just smiled at him.

"No he did not. He only just told me."

"Oh, he's in trouble for not telling you earlier, isn't he?" Mary giggled lightly.

"Hell yeah." Alexander told her. "But before I kick his ass, I want to thank you for this. You have no idea how much this means to me, to us."

"I know, Alexander. I'll do anything I can to help you. Now, I'm going to get my plane ticket. You go deal with my dumb brother, but please don't kill him."

"I make no promises." Alexander said before he hung up. John looked over at him as he put his underwear on, meeting Alex's narrowed eyes. John raised an eyebrow, but his expression changed to one of fear when his short husband pounced on him, tackling him to the floor and pressing their lips together in a passionate kiss. This wasn't exactly what John was expected when Alex tackled him, but there was no way he was complaining, at least he wasn't until Alexander moved his lips to his neck and bit him.

"Ow! What was that for?!" John cried out.

"For not telling me sooner." Alexander whined.

"You were sleeping, I didn't want to wake you up!" The reply earned John another bite. "Ow! What the hell, Alex?"

"You should have woken me up." Alex laid his head on John's chest. "You should have told me." John sighed and wrapped his arms around Alexander and sighed.

"I'm sorry, honey… I just wanted you to get some rest. You've been working so much and coming home so late. You needed a chance to sleep." John rubbed his back soothingly. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you up."

"Don't do that again… Or I'll do something worse than biting…" Alexander grumbled. They remained on the floor for some time, enjoying each other's warmth. Alexander listened to John's heartbeat, beating in time with his own. Heartbeats… They would get to hear another heartbeat soon. Their baby's little heart… It would beat in time with it's parents'. It would add itself to the symphony of their lives.

Family. Two fathers and their child. Three hearts beating together as one.


	13. Chapter 13

Mary Laurens arrived in New York a week after she had agreed to donate an egg. She had taken the morning flight, so Alexander picked her up from the airport since John was working that day. He smiled when she walked off the plane, carry-on bag in hand. Mary went up and greeted him with a hug.

"Good to see you again, Alexander." She said.

"Same to you, Miss Laurens. Is that all you have? Did you bring anything else?" Alexander questioned, pointing to the bag in her hand. Mary shook her head. She was an expert when it came to fighting many outfits and items into one bag. Alexander took her bag and offered her his arm, lead her out to the waiting car. Alex opened the door for her and let her get in first. "Alright, driver, take us home."

"Oui, Mr. Hamilton-Laurens." The driver said. Mary perked up when she heard his voice.

"Lafayette, is that you? I didn't recognize you with your hair out of a ponytail." Mary had a bit of a crush on the Frenchman and everyone knew it. Lafayette smiled and looked at her through the rearview mirror as he started driving.

"It's nice to see you again, Mary. You're looking lovely." He watched the girl's face heat up with a crimson blush before looking back at the road. They all chatted happily as they drove to the Hamilton-Laurens apartment.

"So when is the procedure?" Lafayette asked.

"It's in two days." She said, her soft southern drawl making Lafayette grin. John often tried to hide his, but it always slipped out sooner or later. "I'm so nervous, but my doctor back in South Carolina says I'm perfectly healthy and shouldn't worry." Alexander nudged her and gave a reassuring grin.

"Everything is going to be fine." He assured her, though he was just as nervous. Honestly, there were so many things that could go wrong. What if his sperm wasn't strong enough and couldn't fertilize the egg? What if the fertilized egg didn't attach? What if Eliza miscarried or the baby was stillborn? There were so many possible outcomes and this was such an expensive procedure. He and John couldn't possibly afford another procedure if this one failed. They only had one shot at this. His brows furrowed in a worried expression.

"Oh, come on. You can't tell me everything is going to be fine and then have such a worried look on your face. How is that supposed to comfort me?" Mary said, looking over at him. Alexander shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Sorry, you're right, that's not helping." They arrived at the apartment and went upstairs. John wouldn't come home until early evening, so Alexander, Mary, and Lafayette hung out and watched a couple movies. Mary sat rather close to her crush and Lafayette grinned a bit. He looked at Alexander and wiggled his eyebrows. Alex rolled his eyes, but he was rooting for Mary. Lafayette was a good man. He was loving and took care of his partners. If she ended up snagging Lafayette then she would be in good hands. Mary would love to date Lafayette, but she also knew she had a crush on another person… She had spent so much time with Eliza during her Thanksgiving visit, and Mary couldn't deny that she had developed feelings for her.

She didn't know who she liked more, but right now, she was going to enjoy the warmth that came from sitting so close to Lafayette.

Today had been a big day for John. He had said goodbye to his eighth graders and had moved to his new teaching position in the high school. John was still going to return every Tuesday and Thursday to teach art to the kindergarteners. At the high school, he would finally be able to teach the type of art he had been longing to. He was setting up his classroom that morning, constantly being interrupted as other teachers popped in to welcome him to the school and make introductions. None of them really stuck out in his memory, except for the drama teacher, an Englishman named George. He had come in, quickly introduced himself and informed John that the Spring musical was coming up and that they needed sets painted as soon as possible. John didn't know what to say since this had been thrown upon him almost instantly, but he agreed. George nodded his head and informed him the play was My Fair Lady before leaving the room. John sighed and continued to set up his classroom materials. His first class started in only thirty minutes. He had no real planned assignment for today so he decided to just let everyone free draw so he could get a sense of their skill levels. This was the age group he had wanted to be teaching, but now that he was here, he was nervous. What if these students were terribly behaved? What if they hated him? John felt nervous butterflies flutter about in his stomach as he placed paper and pencils on each table. He went back to sit at his desk. He sighed and moved the hair from his face. He should have put it up today, but he had no ponytail with him and he sure as hell wasn't using a rubber band. He would just have to deal with it for today. John looked at the pictures he had on his desk. He had one of Nugget sleeping on the windowsill, one of just Alexander's smile face, and one of both of them at their wedding. He smiled softly, remembering the insanity that was their wedding, but ah, that is a story for a different time.

John doodled in his sketchbook as he waited for his class to fill up, and when he finally heard voices in the room, he put his pencil down and looked up. Groups of juniors and seniors came filing into the classroom, taking their seats and looking around at the decorations John had placed around the room. There were print copies of famous pieces of art, motivational posters, and some Puerto Rican decorations. John stood when the bell rang and they all turned to look at their new teacher. Unlike most of the teachers at the school, except for George, he was young. John was in his later twenties, latino, covered in freckles, he was different than any other teacher these students had. He flashed a winning smile at them.

"Good morning, everyone. Let me introduce myself. I'm your new art teacher, John Hamilton-Laurens. You can call me Mr. Hamilton-Laurens or Mr. Laurens, either one works fine with me." He started. A curious hand shot up. "Yes? What is your name?"

"Um, I'm Mabel Brown."

"And what is your question, Mabel?"

"Are you related to that guy from the newspaper article? The one who beat up that other reporter?" She asked. John's smile faded. He had pushed that article out of his mind months ago, but now it was back and he could feel the heartbreak as if it were yesterday. He put the smile back on his face.

"That article was set up and fake, but yes, I am related to that guy. His name is Alexander and he's actually my husband." John told her.

"Fag." He heard a boy say towards the back of the room. John looked right at him.

"Interesting observation, but I would like for us all to refrain from using offensive towards myself and to our fellow classmates. Bullying is something I will not tolerate. Can we all agree to that?" The students nodded and the boy looked away in embarrassment. "Fantastic! Now, I want to do what I can to make this class fun for all of you, so if you have any ideas for projects you would like to do, let me know and I will see what we can do with them. For now we are just going to free draw. So everyone take some of the paper on the table and grab pencils. Draw whatever you want. I'll be coming around shortly to see the masterpieces you are all creating." John sat back at his desk and watched the students work. He was happy to be here, but the memory of that article now weighed heavy on his mind. He looked at the picture of Alexander on his desk. Sure his husband did ridiculous self-destructive things, but he would never do something so terrible on purpose. Alexander could hold his liquor, and he never drank that much unless he was with his husband or friends. They still could not find any way to prove that Burr had set the entire incident up, though, so Alexander was still painted as a violent drunk by the media.

John sighed and looked up at the class. The Mabel girl had her hand raised so he got up and went over to her. "What's goin' on, Miss Mabel?"

"Would it be okay for me to draw the p-pride flag?" she asked with a blush. "Or is that too boring? I-I mean I was going to put it on a flagpole and add a background, but is it okay?" John blinked and then smiled softly.

"I think that's a fantastic idea. If you ever need to talk, you just come on in and see me, okay?" He said the last part quietly to her. Mabel nodded and smiled back. John went on and looked at the other drawings the students were creating, learning names as he went along. He sighed when he got to the boy who had called him a fag. His name was Devin and he had been drawing a horrendous looking woman. "What do we have here?"

"It's your mom." Devin snickered. John raised an eyebrow.

"Huh, you should tell me more about my mother. I don't remember her since she died when I was a toddler, so I would really appreciate the knowledge." John looked down at him. Devin looked horrified and slowly folded the paper and put it in the garbage as his friends laughed at him. "I'm sure you've got more up your sleeve, but for now how about you draw something besides a portrait of my mother." He handed him a clean piece of paper. Devin took it and John walked away.

The rest of the class time passed collected the drawings and told his students that he was looking for any volunteers to help with the set for the school's production of My Fair Lady. He was honestly surprised when he got a couple people to volunteer, including Mabel and some of her friends. He told them they would all meet after school in the auditorium to discuss the play with the drama departed.

John had some free time between classes, so he shut the door and called Alexander, talking with him the entire break.

It was nearly six o'clock when John finally came home. Nugget meowed happily when he walked into the apartment. John smiled and picked the cat up before walking further into the apartment. A delicious smell wafted in from the kitchen, and upon turning the corner, John found dinner on the table with both Alexander and Mary already sitting down. They both looked up at John when he entered.

"John, honey, you're interrupting our date." Alexander said. John rolled his eyes and went over to kiss him. "Welcome home, how was your first day?" John groaned softly and went to hug his sister.

"Interesting is the only word I can use to describe it." He sat down at his spot and put some of the alfredo pasta on his plate. "Somebody called me a fag, I have to create the entire set for a play, somebody asked if I was related to the drunk guy in the newspaper. Oh, somebody snuck into my room and tore down my Puerto Rican flag. It's a great start." He was grumpy and tired and hungry. Alexander frowned when he listed off everything that had happened. Mary frowned even more at the mention of the newspaper.

"I'm so sorry, John." Mary said. "You should take a bath after dinner and then go to bed."

"I plan on it…" John said. He didn't do much talking the rest of dinner, so Mary and Alexander took over, telling him all about their day.

"You know, the implantation is in two days." Alexander told him in an attempt to cheer him up. "I've been trying to decide if I want our baby to call me Daddy or… Papi." He narrowed his eyes and smirked at John. John stopped chewing the pasta in his mouth.

"Alex…" he meant to say his name as almost a warning, but it was very non threatening since it came from a mouth full of noodles.

"What? I'm just asking. What do you prefer, Daddy or Papi?" Alexander rested his chin in his hand. John swallowed and glared at his husband. Alex wiggled his eyebrows. "Daddy…. Or Papi…?"

"Oh ew!" Mary exclaimed when she finally caught on. "John do you really call him Papi?"

"Oh, he calls me that enough that at this point my name should just be Alexander Papi Hamilton-Laurens." Alexander laughed

"I'm going to call you dearly departed soon." John threatened.

"Bite me, Johnny boy." Alexander responded.

"That's what you do, ass biter."

"That was one time!"

"Oh my god I don't need to know these things!" Mary covered her ears, causing Alexander and John to pause and then start laughing. His poor sister. Here they were talking about daddy kinks and biting, all while she was sitting and trying to enjoy her dinner.

"I'm sorry, Mary." John said when he stopped laughing. "We shouldn't have been talking about that."

"He's right. It wasn't polite of us. So let's finish dinner and clean up the dishes. Then I will give John a bath and help him relax. How does that sound, baby?" Alexander looked over at John, daring him to answer the way he wanted. John didn't back down, and Mary smacked his arm.

"It sounds great, Papi."

"John!"


	14. Chapter 14

Two days passed by quickly and the day of the implantation had finally arrived. The appointment was very early in the morning, and John and Alexander were tiredly stumbling around their bedroom, trying to get dressed. John picked up a hairbrush and gently brushed the tangles out of Alexander's silky hair. Alexander was uncharacteristically quiet, just staring ahead at the wall.

"What's going through that pretty head of yours?" John asked softly, putting his husband's hair in a bun. Alexander was silent another minute before he parted his lips to speak.

"This is actually happening… We're actually going to be parents." He said softly. "We're going to go in there, implant a fertilized egg inside Eliza, and that egg is going to grow and grow until it's ready to enter the world. Then we take it home… Our baby…"

John wrapped his arms Alexander's torso. "Yeah… our baby…" He also couldn't believe this was happening. Eliza, sweet sweet Eliza, was going to carry their baby for them. His precious younger sister was donating her egg. His breathtaking husband was donating his sperm. This baby was already so loved and it didn't even exist yet. It would have so many loving aunts and uncles. Uncle Lafayette, Aunt Angelica, Uncle Hercules… Even Alex's boss, George Washington, said he would be like a grandfather to their little baby. John felt grateful for that since the baby's actual grandfather would not want to be a part of it's life. Of course, John had not spoken to his father in years so Henry Laurens didn't even know about the baby. Mary tried to convince John to tell their father the news, but there was no way he was going to talk to that bastard.

"He deserves to know about his grandchild." She would say.

"No he doesn't. He doesn't deserve to know anything." John would shoot back. John knew that there was no way he would be able to hide the baby for very long, Henry would find out eventually. He would find out and start making life hell for him again. At least, that's what John was thinking would happen. Alexander turned around to face John, scanning his eyes.

"Everything is going to be okay." He said, to calm both John and himself. John captured his lips in tender little kiss. Alexander's familiar taste made John feel at home, at peace. They could do this, besides, their job wasn't the hard one. Alexander just had to donate sperm, John didn't have to do anything. The girls had it rougher. Mary donated her eggs and Eliza was the one who would be carrying the baby. Eliza understood why they were so nervous. This was their one shot as having a baby. Adoption agencies had kicked them out of their programs and they just didn't have the money to try this procedure again. Eliza felt an immense pressure on her shoulders, and though her friends did not outright say anything, she knew she was their only chance. Eliza took a deep breath and took a sip of her ice cold water. She had stayed the night at the Hamilton-Lauren's apartment so they could all go to the doctor together in the morning. Mary sat across from her, looking her over and noting her nervousness.

"It's going to be okay, Eliza. I know this is scary and you feel pressure, but you're going to do fine." Mary said, trying to sound reassuring. Eliza gave her a small smile and nodded her head.

"I know, thank you, Mary." She said. Mary reached over to squeeze her hand.

"I'm so grateful for what you are doing for my brother. You have no idea how much this means to him, to all of us. You are giving them the one thing they have wanted more than anything. I really can't thank you enough." Mary said sincerely. Eliza squeezed her hand in return.

"I would do anything for those boys. They mean so much to me." she said. They stared at each other for a moment longer than was necessary, still holding hands across the table. They split apart when Alexander and John walked into the kitchen. The men looked tired and nervous, having not gotten much sleep the previous night. Eliza smiled sweetly at them. "Good morning, boys."

"Morning, ladies." Alexander said, sitting down. John leaned on the back of John's chair.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked. Mary waved her hand over the empty table.

"Nothing. Eliza has to fast for the procedure so we all are as well." she said with a grin. John gave a wail of despair, being extremely overdramatic. "Oh, Jack! Stop that, you're so ridiculous!" Alexander gently massaged John's shoulders.

"We'll go get breakfast after the procedure. How's that sound, baby?" Alexander asked. John grumbled in response. "John use your words."

"It sounds good…" John said. Alexander grinned and kissed the top of his head, burying his face in John's curly hair. Mary rolled her eyes at them, though she couldn't deny that they were adorable together. Eliza got them each a glass of cold water and they chatted tiredly as until they had to leave. Alexander made sure the cat had enough food before they left the apartment. The group piled into Eliza's car. Alexander was driving that morning, which was a little frightening as he had terrible road rage and liked to race other drivers. John sat in the passenger seat and the girls were in the back.

"Alexander, please don't crash my car." Eliza said as Alexander put the car in drive.

"Come on, Betsy. When have I ever done something like that?" Alexander asked.

"On our two month anniversary! You were racing someone down our street and hit Angelica's park car!"

"Alexander, what the hell? You never told me that!" John smacked his arm. Mary looked shocked.

"You two dated? I thought you were gay, Alexander!" she exclaimed. Hamilton shook his head.

"No, ma'am, I'm bisexual." he told his sister-in-law. "Eliza and I had a pretty great relationship before we decided we were better as just friends." Eliza nodded her head.

"Not to mention that he happened to meet a certain Frenchman towards the end of our relationship and I could tell he was very interested in him."

"Wait, wait. You dated Lafayette?" Mary sounded shocked. Alexander laughed.

"Yes I did. So did your brother. He had dated Lafayette first, but they broke up and I started dating Laf. Then after about a month or so, we formed a little poly relationship. Eventually Lafayette noticed our feelings for each other growing and he let us go. We've been together ever since."

"Well, except for that week we broke up." John reminded him.

"Oh please, I don't count that." Alexander said as he drove. John rolled his eyes and leaned back. Alex held his hand out to John and he smiled softly as he took it.

It felt like they were waiting hours for the doctors to call for them to come back into the exam rooms. They were all nervously twiddling their thumbs, thoughts of all the possible outcomes dancing through their minds. What if the egg didn't take? What if all of Eliza's preparing didn't work? What if Alexander's sperm wasn't strong enough? What if Eliza died in childbirth? What if what if what if? John leaned against Alexander.

"Estoy asustado." he said softly, speaking in Spanish so his words would not worry Eliza. Alexander looked at him. "¿Y si todo sale mal?"

"Nada va a suceder… Todo va a estar bien." Alexander replied. Mary looked over at them.

"No te preocupes, John." She said softly. John sighed and was about to reply when a nurse came out.

"Hamilton-Laurens?" she called, looking up from her clipboard. The group of four stood up and went over to her. "Hello, who do we have here?"

"I'm Alexander Hamilton-Laurens, I'm the sperm donor. This is my husband John Hamilton-Laurens, his sister Mary Laurens is the egg donor, and this is Elizabeth Schuyler, the surrogate." Alexander introduced the group. The nurse smiled pleasantly.

"It's nice to meet you all. We have the fertilized eggs all ready to go. I'm going to take Miss Schuyler back and we are going to implant those eggs into her uterus and hope that one attaches. The procedure shouldn't take very long so you all can just have a seat out here. Miss Schuyler, you can follow me to the back." Eliza gave her friends a hug before following the nurse to the exam rooms. She felt a sick nervousness in her gut and had to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Everything was going to be okay, she was going to be okay.

Angelica called Alexander while they were waiting for Eliza to come back. She spoke as soon as Alexander answered,

"Is she alright?" Angelica asked. "Is the procedure done yet?"

"She's fine, Angelica, don't worry. We're still waiting for her to come out." Alexander responded.

"If she's not out yet then how can you say she's fine?"

"I… I guess that's true, but honestly, this isn't a dangerous procedure." He could hear a sigh from her end.

"I know, I just don't want anything happening to my little sister."

"That sounds like what you said the first time I took her on a date."

"I also remember saying I would castrate you if you knocked her up. That promise still stands, but I'll give you a pass right now since this is artificial and she's just your surrogate."

"Thank you, Angie. I'm sure John would be very upset if you were to castrate me." Alexander gave a soft chuckle. "I'll call you when Eliza is out, okay?"

"Okay…" Angelica agreed. "I really wish I could have made it down there."

"Eliza understand, don't you worry." Alexander told her. "I'll talk to you later." They said goodbye and hung up the phone. Alexander and John received calls from Hercules, Peggy, and Lafayette as well during their wait.

It took about an hour and a half for the implantation to be completed. Eliza followed the nurse, looking incredibly uncomfortable and holding a handful of prescriptions. The nurse explained that they were to help try to get an egg to attach to her uterus wall and told Eliza to call either as soon as she took a positive pregnancy test or if she was not pregnant after a certain amount of time. Eliza thanked her and turned to her friends, a hand on her belly and a smile on her face. Alexander smiled in return and went over to give her a hug. John grabbed his sister's arm and pulled her in as well. They were doing this. If all went well and an egg attached, they would have a baby, they would be parents! And it was all thanks to Mary and Eliza.

Now they just had to wait.


End file.
